OPI Tribal Nails

Hi everyone! Can you believe it's May already?! I'm excited because this means I'm almost done with my first year of grad school, and will very soon have WAY more time for fun stuff, like nail painting! I only hope the weather will catch up because it is still way too cold and rainy here in DC.

Today I have this fun tribal mani to share with you, done entirely with OPI polishes. I've seen lots of tribal patterns in the blogosphere and on Instagram lately, and love this trend for spring and summer. I'm pretty limited in my artistic abilities, but I can always come up with combinations of lines a geometric shapes, and the color palettes are endless for this type of design. 

I started out with a base of My Vampire is Buff, the quintessential creamy nude shade adored by nail lovers around the world. True to OPI form, application of this polish was easy, and the finished product was a beautiful, neutral blank canvas. This is two coats topped with top coat. I was quite tempted to leave it this way.

But of course, the "more is more!" in me won that battle, especially since I haven't done much actual art lately. I used a thin Bundlemonster brush to apply Can't Find My Czechbook, Live Love Carnaval, and Love.Angel.Music.Baby for the tribal designs. Then, I topped everything with 2 coats of HK Girl Topcoat to smooth everything out. 

These tiny details took me a few hours, but I find this very therapeutic and relaxing, and I was excited to be so pleased with the finished product! I've been feeling uninspired a lot lately, and have wound up with designs that have way too much going on, or just don't flow together. Hopefully, this mani will pull me out of my rut!

NOTD: Love, Angeline - Carry On

I wasn't planning on blogging about this mani, but as soon as I started taking pictures of it, I realized I would have to just for the opportunity to share more than one! As you may know, many indie makers have begun collaborating to produce monthly boxes that allow polish addicts to sample multiple lines in one order. One such collab is the "Pipe Down This Love is Bliss" box that includes polishes from Pipedream, Love, Angeline, and Bliss. The offerings are ALWAYS tempting, but this month I couldn't resist, largely because of the polish I'm wearing today. Obviously, it had to be the first one once my box came!

Love, Angeline - Carry On is a cool-toned gray crelly polish with gold hued iridescent shimmer and flakies. Photos show two thin coats topped with HK Girl Topcoat. This polish immediately caught my eye when I first saw swatches, and I'm happy to report it's just as stunning in person. The gold shimmer is so pretty and subtle, I know these photos don't even really come close to capturing it adequately. But I tried!

Part of why I was so excited to order this box was because I have never tried polishes from any of the indie makers, including Polish My Life, who had a guest spot in this box. I'm really excited to try the others and share them with you all!

NOTD: Pinwheel Polish - Fiesta Night Parade

Hi everyone! Since I got settled into my new place, I've gone on a serious nail polish ordering spree, making it really easy to be inspired (and to want to do my nails all the time!) Today's mani features a new polish that I just received yesterday, but I had to rip into it immediately.

Pinwheel Polish - Fiesta Night Parade is a clear based glitter topper with a beautiful variety of teal, pink, green, and holo glitters. These photos show two dabbed coats sandwiched between layers of L'oreal - Lilac Coolers. Glitter application was very even. As usual, I sat the bottle upside down before polishing, and gave it a good shake between coats. The bigger glitters were super easy to grab.

I've been really wanting to expand my collection of non-glitter jellies lately, and after doing some reading on the OPI Sheer Tints and the Sally Hansen Triple Shine jelly collection, I determined that neither really fit the bill for what I was looking for. My research led me to the limited edition collection of L'oreal jellies--I immediately threw six of them into my Amazon cart. This is the first one I've used, and the formula was fantastic! I applied two thin coats to each nail, then alternated layers of glitter and the jelly to get this look. My ring finger has three layers of the jelly polish topped with Zoya - Liberty in a taped design.

This is a really gorgeous and dynamic glitter topper, and I could imagine it looking fabulous with a lot of different base colors. I was forced into buying immediately when I saw a swatch of it over black--that might have to be the next combination I try!

Just look at the squish! Nom nom nom

Obviously, I had to try this one out with matte top coat. I was not disappointed! I love how the jelly polish takes on a frosty look when mattefied. 

Janna of Pinwheel Polish was also kind enough to offer a mini cuticle oil with purchase on the day I ordered. I opted for the "candy" scent--it smells just like rock candy! It seems to be a "dry oil," meaning that the aftermath of application isn't sticky or overly greasy. I'm a total cuticle care junkie, so I'm happy to add this little beauty to my collection.

The full Fiesta San Antonio collection is available from Pinwheel Polish right now. I love that this is one of the more affordable indie lines, so if you're on a budget, definitely take a look at what Pinwheel has to offer! Also, if you're a jelly fiend like me, be sure to scope out the L'oreal Miss Candy collection on Amazon; I was able to find all of them for $3 each or less!

Neon and Studs

Today I wore this super colorful neon mani. Can you tell I'm excited about the warmer weather?! I like how this turned out, but I don't really have much to say about it, besides that it's super bright! 

I applied two coats of The Juicebox Lacquer - All Night Long over one coat of China Glaze - That's Shore Bright on my index and pinky nails. My middle and ring fingers have two coats of China Glaze - Son of a Peach and some neon studs. Then I topped it all with Sally Hansen's Big Matte Topcoat. I've had Son of Peach for almost a year, I can't believe it took me this long to use it. It's insanely neon in person, it's reading much softer in these pictures. 

It turns out my new apartment has a GREAT spot for taking nail photos in natural light. I take back all of my prior complaints about shooting in natural light, I love how these turned out!