Summer Diagonal French

Hello Friends!
Summer is in full force where I live, so I decided to do some summery nails.  What better color to use than an aggressively bright pink?!  This design is inspired by Kelli Marissa on YouTube.  I thought it would be fun way to use a mega bright color without putting it all over my nail.

So for the base I used one coat of Essie Gel Couture in Fairy Tailor.  I took some striping tape and laid it diagonally across the tips of my nails, starting at the right corner.  Then I used one coat of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy below the tape.  I have now realized that I need to buy a new bottle of this one because mine is SUPER lumpy and old.  After that I pulled off the striping tape and finished it off with Seche Vite top coat to give it a nice glossy finish.

So that is my fun, bright summer diagonal french!  I love how this turned out! I'm going to have to do this type of mani with other colors in the future.  I hope y'all have a great weekend!
~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

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

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

Striping Tape Fun!

Hey Everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I got a new job so i've been a little busy.  Also, my job requires me to open Pandora bracelets all day which takes a toll on my nails.  However I have been painting my nails, so I have some posts coming up soon! Anyway, today's post is more playing with my striping tape :) I'm really having fun coming up with designs using this tape.  Hope you enjoy!

So the base color I used is Zoya Jem.  I hadn't used this one in a while, so I thought it would be a fun color to use.  I applied one coat of Out the Door fast dry top coat and waited about 10 minutes for it to fully dry (mainly because I didn't decide to do the gold until later).  Then I placed small pieces of striping tape diagonally along my ring finger nail and painted over them with OPI Glitzerland.  If you've been reading my blog posts for a while then you will know that Glitzerland is one of my favorite and most used polishes.  It's not one that I use all over my nails that often, but I use it all the time for details and designs.  I think these colors go really well together.  I know they're not very summery, but I was just feeling purple and gold.
I hope y'all enjoyed this, and if you're looking for striping tape you can find it pretty cheap on amazon.com.
Also, how would y'all feel about me doing some more personal posts/videos such as tags? Let me know in the comments below.  I think in the next few days I might show y'all my nail polish collection.  It's not huge, but I think it might be fun for y'all to see how I organize my polish and stuff.  Anyway, have a fabulous day!
~ Mary Elizabeth

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

Long Time Coming Holiday Nails!

Hey Everyone!
Today's post is going to be about a look that I did a while back with two of the polishes from Essie's holiday collection.  I planned on posting this earlier, but time got away from me.  Anyway, I hope you like it!

For the base color I used Essie Leading Lady. This is a glittery, dark red color.  For the side argyle-type triangles, I used Essie Beyond Cozy.  This is a very solid silvery glitter.  To get this style I cut triangles out of scotch tape and placed them on the top and bottom of my nails.  Then I painted Beyond Cozy on the sides of my nails.  Then I removed the tape.  Some of them I had to fix afterwards.  Finally I finished with one coat of top coat (I'm not positive which top coat I used though).  I hope y'all enjoyed, and I hope you'll try it out yourself!  Have a terrific Tuesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

First Try: Edgy Half-moons

Hey there!
So today I'm doing another post in my ongoing First Try series!  I wanted to do a tape mani, but I didn't want to do just any old half-moon, so I tried a version that I saw in a post by Erika from Chloe's Nails.  It's not exactly like hers, but it's similar!

I started with a base of Essie A Crewed Interest.  This is one of my favorite summer colors!  Then, after the polish dried, I taped off triangles on my nails and used Essie Shine of the Times to create the edgy half-moons.  I didn't like how the Shine of the Times didn't show up too much, so I used my Kiss gold glitter to outline the triangles.  This is also a great way to clean up any mistakes made when removing the tape.  Finally I finished it off with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.  I hope this was a fun post for you, and have a fabulous Friday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
Ps be sure to check out Chloe's Nails!

Pink Wednesday Returns!

Hey There!
I am so glad to be posting again!  I have a pink Wednesday for you today.  It's been a long time since I did a pink Wednesday, and I can't wait to show you what I did!

To begin with I used OPI Japanese Rose Garden as a base color.  Then I cut strips out of a piece of tape to get the skinny stripes.  For the darker pink I used Pretty Please polish in Pink Crush.  I will do a review of this brand in a later post.  For the silver stripes I used my Kiss art polish.  I really enjoyed this because it is simple, easy, and super cute!  I like that it looks like it takes a ton of effort, but it really just takes a little time.  I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope your Wednesday was wonderful!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Easy Tape Manicure

Hello There!
I hope you are having a lovely week!  So this morning I went to CVS to get a new bottle Seche Vite top coat, which was much needed, and I ran into Essie's new collection.  All of the colors are beautiful, but the one that caught my eye was A Crewed Interest.

A Crewed Interest is the base color for this design.  It is a really nice peach color.  Before recently, I was not a huge fan of Essie polishes because of the small brush.  However, I really like the pigmentation in most of their polishes.  This particular polish is definitely a one coater!  I really love this polish!
As for the rest of this look, I actually did NOT start with OPI top coat.  I am trying out Essie Grow Stronger strengthening base coat.  I will do a full review on this after I have used it for a while.  Then I used one coat of Essie A Crewed Interest.  Then I put a piece of scotch tape diagonally across my nail and used Essie Tart Deco to make a diagonal stripe.  When I originally bought Tart Deco, I thought it would look more like A Crewed Interest.  Even though it's not what I expected, it is a gorgeous color!  For the middle gold stripe I used my Kiss gold glitter polish.  This is a great way to cover up any mistakes from removing the tape.  Then i finished it off with Seche Vite.  I hope you try this out, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~ Mary Elizabeth

My First Attempt at a Patchwork Mani

Hey there!
First of all, I am at my grandparents' house, so I will be posting a bunch this weekend! Anyway, last weekend I was checking out Chloe's Nails, a blog all about nails and nail polish.  Erika does some really awesome designs.  I decided to try a patchwork manicure inspired by hers. 

As you can see, it didn't come out perfect or anything, but I think it is a cool idea.  I started with my OPI base coat.  Next I used one coat (that's all you really need) of Sally Hansen's complete salon manicure in Navy Baby and let it dry for about 15 minutes.  Next I took a piece of scotch tape and unstickied it on my hand.  Then I placed it diagonally on different areas of my nails.  I painted over the places not covered in tape with Sally Hansen Celeb City.  Once that dried, I did the same thing with OPI No Room for the Blues.  Finally I used Seche Vite top coat (which I will be doing a review on soon!).  This look really isn't difficult, it just takes a long time.  I hope you try this out, and be sure to check out Chloe's Nails at http://chloesnails.blogspot.com/
~ Mary Elizabeth Curl
PS follow me on twitter for heads ups on new posts, life updates, and other randomness at www.twitter.com/theatre_geek151