NOTD: Zoya Pippa + Finger Paints Psychedelic Sunshine

I started off with just Zoya Pippa, which is part of the La-Di-Da Collection:

But I decided that while bright, it wasn't quite enough, so I added a coat of Finger Paints Psychedelic Sunshine to give it some sparkle:

I actually don't usually go quite this bright without like some black staamping to tone it down a bit, but it was a nice change of pace & I liked the combination quite a lot.

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: Bumblebee Water Marble + Tutorial

This water marble has, for some reason, become one of my most popular on YouTube.  I swear I can not figure out what will be a breakout hit - some of my  most favorite are only middling performers, others that I didn't think anything special draw in millions of views.  The next-highest vid from Water Marble March (which is the Four Leaf Clover marble, if you're interested) only has a bit over 300k views while this one is at 1.2 million & going strong.  Not that I'm complaining, mind, but my favorite from that month was hands down my my Girl on Fire marble (which is 2 manicures down the road, so you will see it soon!) & it hasn't even hit 200k.  More proof, if any was necessary, that I guess my style does not always line up with everyone else's style =)  & that's perfectly fine LOL.

Anyway - on to the actual manicure.  Base color is China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, marbling done with HGL & China Glaze Liquid Leather:

I know some people find the stripe design just a bit tricky - it's really very similar to chevrons, but very tight & instead of drawing straight across you want to go just a bit backward & this should help to straighten out the lines if that makes sense.

Here's the tutorial:



Still 3 more manicures from Water Marble March ... and then we'll be moving on to Nail Art April, which started with another water marble LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Acid Leopard

This was really, for me, out of the box.  But I had a lot of fun with it & got a ton of great compliments too.  I was inspired by an Acid Leopard eye makeup tutorial I saw on YouTube, and so I translated it into a manicure.  I created the rainbow by sponging with Icing Hot Date, Suntan Lotion & Blue Carribean - all 3 from the Cancun Spring Break collection.  The leopard design I did with a Black Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen:

& I've now got a blacklight, just for some fun pics!

I think I had this on for a full week, and towards the end I added some China Glaze Matte Magic top coat:

Here's the tutorial:

And here's the eye makeup tutorial by Klaire de Lys that inspired me:

What do you guys think of this neon-bright nail art look?  Sometimes it's good to step a bit outside of your comfort zone =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Halloween Candy Corn + Tutorial

It's almost the middle of the month & this is only my 2nd Halloween look!  I'm going to run out of time for everything rattling around in my head LOL.

 

Candy corn is such a traditional part of Halloween, but I did a candy corn inspired water marble last year & so I wanted to do something in a different direction.  I started with a base of Wet n Wild French White & Orly Twilight, then did the yellow & orange with L'Oreal Yellow Seahorse & Coral Starfish, and the outline with Wet n Wild Black Creme:

 

Overall I'm pretty happy, although I have a tendency to pick apart my freehand art.  This one, the biggest mystery is that my right hand seems to have turned out better than my left somehow!  Maybe because I am even more careful when I'm painting with my off-hand?

 

Tutorial:

 

 

I know I said last post I wasn't going to tease about what I had coming tomorrow but I can't help it ... I went & got the Nails Inc magnetic polish at Sephora!  & I am very excited to try it =)

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

Sunny Yellow in the Sun

So the sun peeked out just long enough for me to get some better outdoor pics =)

 

I've got duo-chromey goodness to show you guys, and the haul post that is taking me such a long time for some reason.  I thought I would have time yesterday, and today, and obviously now the plan is tomorrow ... I certainly hope so LOL.  It's been like a month since I made the purchases.

 

Thanks for reading.

~Colette