NOTD: Hunger Games Catching Fire - Girl on Fire French Tips + Tutorial

I am a HUGE Hunger Games fan ... I didn't realize until after the fact how well the Harvest Waterfall would have worked out for the movie, so this is what I ended up wearing to go see the movie.  I started out with a base of OPI Alpine Snow, then a couple coats of Formula X for Sephora Spark, then topped that as a jelly sandwich with OPI Meet Me at the Bonfire.  Then I painted the flames with black acrylic paint:

Here's the tutorial:

Are you a Hunger Games fan?  Have you seen the movie and I'm guessing loved it?  Casting was so spot-on flawless, I think it was even better than the first one.  I can't wait for the next ones!  The last book is getting split into 2 movies if you didn't already know.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Harvest Waterfall + Tutorial

This was my Thanksgiving design for this year - Thanksgiving is always a bit of a challenge for me ... it's not really a holiday that has a wide range of themes LOL, so since I didn't want to do a turkey again I just went with traditional colors.  This look was inspired by a couple of designs by the Nailasaurus: that are on my Pinterest inspiration board HERE and HERE

I started of with a plain black base of OPI Black Onyx, then did the waterfall with 4 OPI Liquid Sand colors: What Wizardry is This?, Jinx, Honey Ryder, and Magazine Cover Mouse:

Here's the tutorial:

While I did like the textural contrast, after a few days I did add topcoat so that the entire mani was glossy:

Have you tried a waterfall manicure?  Which version of this one was your favorite?

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Spring Pastel Rainbow Water Marble + Tutorial

So, Nail Art April started off with a marble that didn't quite fit into March =)  I used Orly Au Champagne for my base, then Marbling was done with 6 Revlon pastels - Sunshine Sparkle, Peach Smoothie, Pink Again, Gum Drop, Blue Lagoon & Minted.

I actually started out this design with a big fail that turned out kind of cool in hindsight; I wish I'd taken more pictures.  I wanted each nail to have just an arc of color, but it turned out too pale - I tried an overlay-marble of black that turned out looking grey ... and so after I did one hand I took it off & stared over again.  Here's a look at the fail that maybe wasn't quite such a fail:

Either way, this is what replaced it - due to the way I dipped my nails, they almost all turned out just a little different.  Very pale, especially in certain lights, but it was well suited for the Easter season it happened to be at the time:

I didn't have any nails that I didn't like, which as you know is pretty rare - so I took close-ups for all of them:

And of course here is the tutorial:



Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Girl on Fire Water Marble + Tutorial

This was my favorite design from Water Marble March, and I did in fact have it on my nails when I went to see the movie =)  & if you somehow still have not heard about the Hunger Games ... well, what rock have you been under LOL?

I started this manicure with a base of Orly Crush on You with a coat of the glitter Icing Pumpkin on top.  Since the colors I marbled with were mostly jellies, the glitter sparkled through a little & really brought the fire to life.  Marbling is done with Crush on You as well as Orly Ma Cherie & Liquid Vinyl - somehow although I had this on for around a week it appears I didn't get any natural lamp pictures but I think the rest do it pretty good justice:

Favorite flame-like nails:

And of course here is the tutorial:



Did you see the movie & have you read the books?  I try not to think too much about the next movie because it's so far off, but really I can't wait!

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

The Evolution of Zoya Paz + Tiger Stripes Tutorial

OK, don't faint - it's a weekday post =)

Zoya Paz is an awesome bright orange, next thing to being a neon, and a very stand out color all on its own - the camera does not do it justice.  These pics are old enough that I can't remember how in the world I managed the gouge on my index finger LOL:

I decided to amp it up even further with a coat of Nails Inc Electric Lane:

And then after a day I decided to try my hand with some freehand tiger stripes.  I used black acrylic paint for the stripes:

Here's the tutorial:

I was really quite pleased with how everything came out.  Before that I'd always just gone with stamping but I think I'll try some more freehand animal print in the future.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette