Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Water Marble Tutorial + Giveaway!

I just finished recording and editing this, so I don't have my full range of pictures that I normally do and I may post those later, but I wanted to post right away so that you guys can enter the giveaway or contest if you want!

First, let me share the manicure with you guys, a water marble using Sally Hansen Color Foil Purple Alloy, and Sally Hansen Red Striper:

Here's the tutorial:

The June theme for Sally Hansen's I Heart Nail Art Contest is Liquid Mani, and you can enter their contest Here:  http://www.sallyhansen.com/i-heart-nail-art/contest

And as for my giveaway, the prize is a Nail Art Party in a Box like this one:

You can enter here, or on the Contest Page of my blog, or on my Facebook Fan Page!  Open through June 30th to residents of the United States over the age of 18.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone  and of course thanks for reading =)

~Colette

*These products were sent to me for promotional purposes

NOTD: Basic French Manicure + Tutorial

Simple, traditional, and completely out of the ordinary for me LOL.  I might even have been known to call a basic French manicure boring.  I also don't care for how a traditional French looks when my nails are longer, but at this length, I think it was just about perfect =)  The polishes used are Formula X for Sephora White Matter & Wondrous.  Please forgive the tiny chips on my index in the outdoor shots:

Here's the tutorial:

How often do you wear a basic french?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Work-Appropriate Water Marble + Tutorial

I know that I'm lucky, but I really can't imagine working somewhere that restricted my nails, or any of my personal style.  I mean, I can't wear WHATEVER I want, but pretty close.  And no one batted an eye - much - when I pierced my lip.  But I know some people are restricted, either in length or in color; and so this design is for them - or anyone else who'd like something on the short and neutral side.

All of the polishes I used in this water marble are Formula X for Sephora.  For my base color I used Monumental, and if I remember it was the closest I've ever come to a "mannequin hands" color for my skin tone.  For the marble I used Monumental, Evocative & Perfection - they were all very smooth in the water.

Here are a couple of the nails I think turned out best:

And here of course is the tutorial:

Hope you guys enjoyed =)  And thanks for reading!

~Colette

NOTD: New Year's Super Blingy Ombre Glitter Mosaic + Tutorial

So far, we have already received nearly a foot more snow than we normally average in an entire winter.  And all that shoveling is what I'm blaming my lack of posting in January on ... winter doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon but I guess I'm not surprised ...  that's where the name Minne"snow"ta came from =)

Anyway, here is what I had on my nails for New Year's, just before I made a big chop (which if you haven't see on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc will be coming up in my next post).  The base color is just OPI Black Onyx; the glitter ombre is done with Martha Stewart glitter from Michaels in the colors Onyx, Sterling, Florentine Gold, Fire Opal, Garnet, Tourmaline, Kunzite, Charoite, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Verdalite & Olivine:

The overall ombre was a beautiful effect, although some nails the difference was very drastic, such as on the black/silver nail - some nails the difference was nearly invisible, such as on the red/orange nail:

Here's the tutorial:

This look was inspired from a design on Pinterest, and I did it my own way before I actually read up on the blog posts by the original creator.  That's how I usually do it unless I really can't figure out how to accomplish the effect, but after the fact I learned quite a lot from reading, watching, and even a few comments back and forth with Polish All The Nails.  So the next time I do a glitter mosaic - and there will definitely be a next time - I plan on using at least 2 coats of my base color, to give the glitter a deeper layer to be pressed into.  Also, I trimmed the overhanging glitter & then added a topcoat - I think I would topcoat to help the glitter stay in place, then trim, then more top coat to smooth everything out.  This wasn't horribly rough - and actually wore much better than I expected, only losing a few glitters by the time I took it off - but I think with practice I can get it even smoother!

This was a super fun manicure to wear, I kept in on a whole week & I got a LOT of compliments ... here's a look at it in motion:

Do you have the patience to do a look like this?  Maybe just as an accent nail would be enough for many LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Christmas Reverse Waterfall + Tutorial

Busy holidays, and then busy with snow & cold, but things are getting back to normal & I'm only a few posts behind.  This was my Christmas manicure - I'd been wanting to try striping from the tip rather than the cuticle ever since I did my Harvest Waterfall Mani.  Base color for this attenpt is China Glaze White On White, then the waterfall is done with China Glaze  Red-Y and Willing, Goldie but Goodie, Tongue & Chic, & Gossip Over Gimlets - all from the Autumn Nights Collection:

Here's the tutorial:

I have 3 more posts to catch up with - my Super Blingy Ombre Glitter Mosaic, which was the last mani on my long nails, and then 2 "plain" manicures on my new short nubbins.  Then there'll be a nubbins tutorial up this weekend!

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Ornate Holiday Teal & Gold Water Marble + Tutorrial

For my third and final look for Formula X for Sephora I decided to go with a water marble.  I used Enigma for my base color, then marbled with Enigma, Orbit and Iconic:

I really loved the variety that I got - all the nails similar, but of course none the same; the fact that the index and ring fingers ended up more light and the pinkie and middle more dark on both hands was a happy accident:

You can check out the tutorial here:

These Formula X colors have been very versatile to work with - not all of the colors work for marbling of course, but it didn't take too many tries to find this combination & they performed together well.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

 (These were sent to me for review)