Spring Trend Tribal

Good morning lovlies!
This week I got an exciting package in the mail: my first roll of striping tape! So I decided to break it in by creating this tribal design.  Hope y'all enjoy!

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint on.  This is a really pretty, shimmery mint color.  The I placed two small pieces of striping tape on my nail, one just above the tip and the other diagonally from the top of the first.  I then painted a coat of China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis.  These two colors are so in this season! Next I used my black Kiss nail art polish to outline the tape lines, create the zigzag, draw stripes, and add polka dots.  I used my Francesca's gold nail art polish to make the gold line along the top and used my gold Kiss glitter to fill in the black stripes.  I had a lot of fun making this design!

I hope y'all enjoyed this look, and have a wonderful Wednesday!

~ Mary Elizabeth

I feel summer comin' on...

Hey everybody!
I hope y'all had a great weekend!  So I just started summer vacation, so I thought I'd post a look that I did using one of the most summery things i could think of: NEON!  Hope you enjoy!

So to start off I used China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise.  This is a neon turquoise color with some slight shimmer.  It is not what most people generally think of when they think neon (it's not just eye searing), but it is still very vibrant.  I topped that with Sephora by OPI Not Your Average Turquoise.  I love this turquoise glitter!  The only problem I have with it is that I kinda had to fish for the bigger pieces of glitter, but that is pretty common for polishes like this.  I used my Francesca's nail art pen in gold to add the half moons at the top of the nail.  I finished off with a coat of top coat.
I hope y'all enjoyed this look!  I expect to get a good amount of posts in now that I am off for summer break, so keep your eyes peeled!  Have a terrific Tuesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Just Having a Little Fun :)

Hey Everybody!
So today's post is a mani that I did a few weeks ago that I didn't get a chance to blog about.  I was planning on leaving my nails solid blue, but I got a little carried away :) Hope y'all enjoy!

I started off with a base of OPI What's with the Catittude?  It takes a good 2/3 coats to get the color solid, but it's a pretty sky blue.  For the design, I used the black nail art pen I got from Franchesca's.  I started the design with just the edgy half moon. Then I decided to have some fun with the ring finger, so I did a kind of argyle design with dots in the middle.  I like the way it turned out, and I definitely got a lot of compliments on the design.
I hope y'all enjoyed this post, and if you have any questions or requests for posts you would like to see leave a comment below.  Have a terrific Thursday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

First Try: Tribal

Happy Sunday Everyone!
So today's post is another installment in my ongoing First Try series.  Yesterday I was trying to decide what I should do with my nails, and I decided I would give tribal nails a shot.  I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

First of all, I apologize for my nub of a middle finger nail.  This is the nail I broke last week.  Anyway, I started with a base of OPI Suzi's Hungary AGAIN! from the new Euro-Centrale collection.  I will do a review of the polishes I got from that collection soon.  Anyway, in order to create the tribal, I used the black art polish I got from Franchesca's.  Good things: I like the effect that I got with the way the lines go in and out of each other.  Bad things: my lines are a little shaky, and I ended up making my hands a little too symmetrical.  Other than that I really like how this turned out!  I had a fun time deciding what to do for this.  I hope y'all enjoyed, and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.  Have a blessed Sunday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 
1 Peter 5:6-7

Green and Gold Freehand

Hey guys!
Today's post is a look that I did a few weeks back that I thought I would share with y'all.  I wanted to try out a gold nail art pen that I got at Francesca's (the same as the black one I talked about in my last post).  I hope you like what I came up with!

First of all, let me apologize about my broken pointer finger nail.  It broke not long before I did this mani, but it's back to normal now.  Anyway, I started with a base of OPI Here Today, Argon Tomorrow.  This is a nice dark green creme.  It takes about three coats to get a solid color.  Then, as I mentioned before, I used a nail art pen in gold for the stripes and stuff.  It is pretty difficult to get a straight line because you have to squeeze the tube and draw the line at the same time.  With that said, I really like how it turned out.  I topped it off with CND Air Dry top coat.  I hope y'all enjoyed this, and I hope you will try this out yourself!  Have a marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

(Late) Halloween Nails!

Hey Y'all!
So I know I'm super duper late on this, but I thought I'd show y'all how I painted my nails for Halloween last week.  I had a really fun time on Halloween.  My friends and I went to dance that was hosted by a guy in the music department on my campus.  I'll add pictures at the end of this post of us in our costumes at the end of this post :) Anyway, on to the mani!

Let me start by saying sorry there's only one pic.  I was on a bit of a time crunch.  I started with a base of OPI In My Back Pocket (I think.  It's a mini polish and it doesn't have a name on it).  For the stripes I used a nail art pen that I got from Francesca's.  I'm not quite sure of the brand, but any nail art pen will do.  I used Sinful Colors Black on Black for the thicker striped areas.  Finally I topped it all off with CND Air Dry top coat.  I plan on doing a review of this soon.  I hope y'all enjoyed this post, and I hope you had a happy Halloween!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Ps here are some pics from my Halloween festivities!

These are the school of the arts professors all dressed up as Harry Potter characters!  How cool are they?!

Me and my friends!  From left to right character names: neon girl, dude in box, Kevin and Rod from Hot Rod, hipster Harry Potter, and Kim Possible (me).  Ya we're cool :)

Glitter Gradient Madness! + Update

Hey Everybody!
I'm back!  I know that I haven't posted in a long time, but life has been crazy.  I began college in August, so I have been really busy lately.  It has really been an adjustment moving and becoming more independent, but I know that if I trust in God and work hard I will be able to succeed.
Now, on to the nails! I have been obsessed with glitter gradients lately.  It is a really quick, easy way to get impressive looking nails.  Here are some of my favorite gradients so far!

For this I started with Julie G polish in Gelato in Venice.  I got this polish at Rite Aid, and I'm really impressed with the pigmentation.  For the glitter I used OPI Glitter-ally the Best Silver Ever.  I like the fact that this glitter is big enough to make a good fade but not so big that it only leaves a few pieces of glitter on the nail.

For this one I used OPI Barre my Soul as a base.  This is a great sheer polish.  I love it for french manicures.  Again, I used Glitter-ally for the glitter.  For this one I tried to get more of a french mani look that kind of fizzles at the top. 

This one began with OPI Care To Danse?  This is another very sheer polish.  If you can't tell, I really like the whole glitter on sheer thing ☺.  The glitter is a Francesca's  polish in Confetti.  This glitter is a little tough to work with, but once you figure it out you get a super cool effect.

So I hope y'all enjoyed this post, and I hope you give the glitter gradient a try.  I will try really hard to get more posts up soon, but I can't make any guarantees just because of my work load.  The lament of a music student!  I appreciate all of you for sticking with me!  I hope you have a marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth