Feelin' Blue

Hello Friends!
So I was looking through my nail polish collection recently, and I realized that there are a bunch of polishes I haven't used in ages!  I decided it was time to break out some old favorites and perhaps put them to new use.  This was the result!

So as you can see I alternated shades of blue.  The lighter blue is Essie Bikini So Teeny, and the darker blue is Essie Butler Please.  I haven't used either of these in quite a while, which was obvious when I pulled the brushes out of the bottles.  However, on the second coat of each polish they evened out.  I did a sponge gradient on the ring finger using both colors.  Not the cleanest gradient I've ever done, but it looks ok.  On the rest of my fingers I did a glitter gradient using OPI Last Friday Night.  I don't know why it's been so long since I used this one; it's freaking gorgeous!  I think I probably could have used another layer of the glitter, but the light tip coverage looks nice too :)  The other change I would make if I  do this again would be to add a layer of the glitter on top of the gradient.  As I played around with this glitter later on, I found that this glitter is rather thin on its own, so it would have worked nicely.  However, if you do want full coverage with this glitter, you can sponge it on and it packs a punch!

I hope y'all enjoyed seeing my experimentation with old polishes!  Let me know if you try something like this or what polishes you have in your collection that could use some love :) Hope y'all have a fantastic week!
~Mary Elizabeth

Hometown Gradient

Hey Everybody!
I hope y'all have had a great last couple of weeks!  This past weekend I went home to Orlando for a family reunion.  I hadn't been home since December so it was fun to get to see my family again and be in familiar territory.  One of my favorite (mundane) parts about going home is that I get to sort through my mom's nail polishes and paint my nails with some polishes that are not common among our collections.  One thing I noticed is that my mom has a lot of shades in the pink/purple range, and in general a lot of polishes in the warm zone.  I decided that while I had a different stash to play with and more time in which to do so, I would try to play with gradients.  I did 2 different gradients in my time at home, but I am only going to share one with you.  That is because the first one was almost indiscernible because the 2 colors I chose were far too close together.  You really couldn't even tell I did a gradient at all.  The second one, however, turned out quite nice! Here is my far more successful gradient.

So for this gradient I chose 2 different OPI purples.  The lighter one is OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, and the darker one is OPI Hello Hawaii Ya?  My mom has a whole lot of OPI polishes, and she likes the first shade I mentioned so much that she bought 2 of them.  Anyway, I painted all my nails with the lighter shade, then on the ring finger did a gradient of the 2 shades with a cosmetic sponge.  There are a crap ton of tutorials on how to do this on YouTube, so I'm not going to explain how to do this.  I am not super great at gradients because I don't do them all that often, but I was pleasantly surprised at how successful this was.  I think I need to look for some slightly less porous sponges in the future, because up close you can see some little speckles from the sponge in the gradient.   Anyway I finished it off with Seche Vite top coat, which I am slowly falling back into love with.

So that is my gradient using my mom's polishes!  I really need to do these more often because this one came out so nice.  Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend!
 ~ Mary Elizabeth

4th of July Nails

Hey there!
I hope everyone had a stellar 4th of July! If you are reading this from another country, I hope you had an awesome Wednesday celebrating you :)  Every year I try and do some sort of festive nails for the 4th.  In the past I have done more literal versions of patriotic nail art, but this year I wanted to try something a little different.  I apologize ahead of time that there is only one photo, I was only able to get one good one before I started doing things and dragging the design around (I'll explain in a second).  Anyway, here it is!

So I started with a peel off base coat, since I had to take the polish off the next day for work.  I think this is what caused the dragging.  The design wasn't smudged (at least not from this), but it looked like the whole nail was pushed to the side.  I think this may have something to do with the fact that this base coat is meant to peel off relatively easily.  I plan on eventually doing a  comparison on some different peel off base coats when I've tried some more and have some more experience using them.

Anyway, for the base color on all the nails except the ring finger, I used Essie Gel Couture polish in Fairy Tailor.  I may do a post at some point about this line and the polishes I have within it.  I really enjoy this polish as a nice sheer wash of color on the nails.  I used two coats and still have a visible nail line, but that was fine since I covered up the tips anyway.  The colors I used for the dots were OPI Unfor-Greta-bly Blue, Zoya Vanessa (red), and Pop-arazzi Icing on the Cake (white).  I started by putting each color on a business card.  I used several different sized dotting tools to achieve the fading effect.  If you don't have dotting tools, you can use toothpicks and just vary the amount of polish you use.  I tried to make the dots decrease in size as they got closer to the cuticle.  I decided to do each size at once, not each color (does that make sense?), which may have been to my detriment.  The dots of polish on the business card started to dry a bit after a while, so they got a little gummy.  If you could see my other hand you would see little strings of red from after I placed some of the dots.  I kept having to add more polish so that wouldn't happen.  All that to say if you try this I would recommend either doing all of one color at once or testing the polish between rounds.

For my ring fingers I used the same white polish as a base and topped it with OPI Happy Anniversary.  I also sponged on some of OPI Pirouette My Whistle for that glitter.  Not gonna lie, this was not the look I was originally going for.  I originally wanted sparkly silver glitter, but I am totally in love with the result I ended up with! I'm definitely going to have to do this on all my nails sometime.  I've never sponged on this glitter, but now that I've tried it I realize how necessary it is.  It is ordinarily so hard to get those big glitters in there, but sponging is a big help.  I will say, however, use a makeup sponge or something along those lines.  Don't use a sponge-tipped eye shadow applicator like I did.  Not nearly as effective. I topped everything off with Seche Vite top coat.

So those are my 4th of July nails!  Let me know what else y'all would like me to write about, and if you did anything fun for the Fourth I would love to see!  Hope y'all have a great week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Really Late Fourth of July Nails

Hello Friends!
So I'm a slacker.  Don't judge me.  But here I am!  So I had to work on fourth of July this year :( but that doesn't mean that I couldn't do fourth of July nails! So... here they are!

 So first of all, let's ignore the little polish mistakes that I didn't clean up.  I got lazy.  Anyway, this is a lot easier than it looks.  I got several comments along the lines of "OMG how did you do that?" It's really not that hard.  So for the red I used OPI Red Hot Rio.  This is the only red I have that is not a purply red, and I think it worked out pretty well.  The blue is OPI Unfor-Greta-bly Blue.  The white is Julie G White Orchid. For the stripes, I started with the white and let it dry.  I took some small pieces of striping tape, put it on my hand to unstick it a little, and then place the pieces vertically on my ring finger nail.  Then I applied Red Hot Rio over the tape.  Next I carefully pulled the tape off.  Finally I finished all the nails off with a coat of Seche Vite top coat.
I hope y'all enjoyed this post and had a great fourth! To close here's a picture of my family on the fourth.

 Have a Marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Nudes n' Brights

Hey Everyone!
Today's post is a cute look that I thought I'd give a shot.  It's an interesting combination on nude polish and a bright color.  If you try this out feel free to substitute the green I used for any other bright color you like. 

Now each nail was done a little differently.  For the pointer and pinky, I started with a base of Zoya Mitzi.  This is a kind of sour green color.  It has a matte finish, so if you want it to shine you'll need a top coat.  I used some striping tape and made a diagonal.  Then I painted over the nail (below the tape) with OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons.  This polish is really growing on me.  I was a bit hesitant about it when I first bought it but now I actually like it!  For my middle finger and thumb I started with Don't Pretzel My Buttons as the base.  Then I laid two pieces of striping tape in the middle of my nail in a chevron.  Then I went over it with Mitzi.  Be careful wen removing the tape so that you don't mess up the polish underneath.  On my ring finger I simply used two coats of OPI DS Classic.  Finished it all off with a coat of Seche Vite top coat.

I hope y'all enjoyed, and if you give it a shot then leave it in the comments below!  Have a wonderful week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Graduation Nails

Hello Lovelies!
Today's post is how I did my nails for my sister's high school graduation.  Before I begin, I just want to say how proud I am of my sister.  She is one of the hardest working people I have ever met.  She is going to the same school as me in the fall, which is very exciting :) These are not my school colors (which would have been a good idea but I didn't think about that), but they went well with my dress.  Enjoy!

I started with a base of two coats of OPI Antibreak.  Then I used my Kiss art polishes in gold and black to add the stripes.  I am personally proud of myself for how straight I made those lines.  It's something so much more simple than you might think.  I hope y'all enjoy this cute look, and have a magnificent Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Ps Here's some pictures of my sister's graduation!

Crosshatch Nude

Hello Lovelies!
I hope y'all are having a fantastic day so far! Today I am doing my first actual nail post in quite some time.  Sorry about that, but I've had a pretty busy life (as you may recall from my last update).  Today I wanted to share with you a crosshatch design I saw on pinterest.  It's super easy but cute at the same time.

I started with a base of OPI Steady as She Rose.  I used two coats, but I probably should have used three.  It came out a little thinner than I thought it would.  I like this polish because it is flattering on my skin tone and is very work appropriate.  For the crosshatch I used my Kiss nail art polish in black.  I'll leave a link to the actual tutorial here since it's a little difficult to explain.  One disappointment I had is that my Seche Vite top coat smudged my nail art.  If any of you know of a quick dry top coat that won't smudge designs let me know in the comments below!  I think this is a really cute and simple way to incorporate nail art into your nail routine.  Hope y'all enjoyed, and have a fabulous Friday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Valentine's Day Ideas

Hello there!
It's that time of year again  and I have some nail designs to share that you might like to try!  These are just fun, Valentine's Day themed nails that are simple and time friendly.  Hope you give them a shot!

 This first design is based on something I found on pinterest.  I used two coats of Zoya Mickey as a base color.  Then I used Essie Penny Talk for the french tips.  In the pinterest post they used tape to get the french tips, but I just kinda freehanded it.  This takes very little time if you have a steady hand.

This next design is my favorite of the two.  I used OPI Steady as She Rose as the base.  Then I used one of my dotting tools to plave two dots next to each other on the nail.  Then I dragged the dots together to a point in order to make the hearts.  For this I used OPI It's All Greek to Me.  Warning: I would wait a bit for the hearts to dry before applying top coat.  I smudged one of the hearts on my thumb because I used top coat too soon.  I love how cute and simple this one is.

I hope you get a chance to try one or both of these out for Valentine's Day!  If you do, I would love to see a picture of your take in the comments.  Have a terrific Thursday!

~ Mary Elizabeth

Nude Chevron + Update

Hello Lovelies!
I feel like a broken record when I say I'm sorry for being so absent on the blog lately.  Things have been a bit crazy, plus the wifi at school can be a little on the slow side.  Anyway today I have a quick post about a really fun nail design that I tried out the other day.  I really think the colors are classy and fitting for any outfit.  Also, I am going to add a bit of an update at the end so y'all can see a bit of what I've been up to :)

So for a base color I chose OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons.  This is one color that I don't use very often.  When I originally bought it I thought it was a little weird against my skintone, but now I am beginning to like it a lot.  I waited for the base to dry so that the tape I used wouldn't pull all the polish off.  Once it dried I placed pieces of striping tape in V formations on my ring finger nail.  I painted over it with Sinful Colors Black on Black and then removed the tape.  I finished it off with a layer of Seche Vite top coat.  I really like the very southern, classy style of the chevrons.  I think it has a pretty design, yet the subtle colors make it wearable.  I hope y'all like it too! Now, on to the update!

So I had a great Christmas break/JanTerm.  I worked pretty much the whole break.  I am very grateful that I was able to return to the job that I had over the summer without any problems.  I also enjoyed getting to see my family and spend time with my friends.  Only downside: I got in a car accident about 2 weeks before I had to go home.  My car wasn't able to be repaired, so I was not able to get a new one in time to come back to school so my grandpa flew me back.

This is me and my best friend's baby sister Cami! Ain't she a cutie?

Putting the angel on the tree!

Got to fly in my grandpa's plane!

Daddy's helping with pre-flight

Now that I'm back at school we've had quite an adventure! Y'all may have heard about the "snowstorm" that hit the south? Well my school got hit with that.  School was cancelled for about a week.  The roads were covered with abandoned cars because the ice kept people from being able to get home from work.  Around here it's been called "snowpocalypse."  Yup, keep laughing, northerners.

A Floridian's reaction to snow :)

Here's what the front of the school looked like after an hour

This hat is a result of the amount of knitting/crocheting I've been doing lately.

 So I hope y'all enjoyed this most overdue post, and I hope you have a Marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

September Nail Art Day 2: Gold and Teal

Hey everybody!
Today I am posting the first of my September nail art designs!  Today's theme is gold and teal. These colors represent childhood and ovarian cancer awareness, for which September is the month.  Not gonna lie, this ended up reminding me of perry the platypus.  Here's what I came up with!

I started with a base color of OPI Fly.  This is a little darker teal than I was hoping for, but it works.  Then I used OPI Goldeneye as a gradient.  I'm really excited that this worked! I was a little bit skeptical as to whether this would work or not, so I'm glad to have discovered a new technique. 
I hope y'all enjoyed, and be sure to stop back on Saturday for school colors day!  Have a fabulous rest of your week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Living on the Edge

Hey y'all!
So today's post is an edgy half moon mani.  I was trying to think of something fun to do with my nails that didn't require freehand.  I really enjoyed doing this, and I hope y'all enjoy it as well!

For the base color I used OPI Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs.  This is a beautiful warm purple shade.  It takes two or three coats to get it solid (I used two for this), but it is definitely worth it!  Next I placed two pieces of scotch tape on each nail in order to make a V.  I painted the space it left with Sinful Colors Black  on Black.  This only took one coat.  Then I used my Kiss gold glitter to outline the V shapes to clean up any messes made and give a gold pop. 
I hope y'all enjoyed this, and I hope you'll give it a shot!  I've got several posts planned, so keep your eyes peeled!  Have a terrific Tuesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth