Nail Art

   Hello!  This is a big post for me, and I don't just say that because it's image heavy!  This is my first-ever "galaxy nails" attempt!  Which turned out quite nicely... for a first attempt, at least!  I've been inspired by all the beautiful galaxy and nebula manicures, in particular the ones that play around with colors beyond the typical spacey black, blue and green.  Thus my choice of a deep burgundy and pink scheme!

   Read on if you'd like to see a bunch more pictures (including glowing ones!) and hear about what I used.  I was surprised by how easy this ended up being, though I didn't take a picture of what  used, it was a combination of dotting tools, make-up sponges and a thin nail art brush.

Swatch & Review

   Wow, a swatch post!  It has been so long!  Today I'm sharing Laquerlicious Star Attitude - 1 coat over China Glaze Def Defying.  This is an AWESOME combination!!  Seriously, I could not get over how bright and happy my nails looked.  I used 3 coats of Def Defying, though I could have gotten away with 2 on the glitter-coated nails.  Star Attitude only needed 1 coat because it is packed with all different types of glitters... star shapes, hexes, shreds, micro bars...  Despite being so full of gllitter application was easy, so this nail polish is a winner in my opinion!  Thanks for looking.  =)

Swatch & Review / NotD

   Good evening, princesses!  Here is a manicure that is sure to give you sweet dreams about polish.  ;P  I was fortunate enough to snag Once Upon A Starry Night during I♥NP's clearance sale, and found the limited edition Pure Ice color Fairy Godmother, which pairs wonderfully as a base color.  Also, I think I may have found my "pose" for pictures.  Holding my hand at an angle seems most comfortable.

   I used one coat of I♥NP (I Love Nail Polish - what a great brand name!) of Once Upon A Starry Night, which is a clear-based glitter with a really nice density for using as a topcoat.  The glitters in it are prismatic, silver, blue, and matte white.  It contains holographic silver stars but not very many of them.  Getting one of the stars is a treat, and the nails without stars don't look like they are lacking.  I've had this polish on my wishlist since I first saw it announced last year!  Sadly this shade is now discontinued - sorry!

   ILNP definitely earns their tagline of "boutique nail lacquer": the super cute packaging, the wonderful brush and good formula...  I'm not sure if this bottle is made with the original or reformulated glitter base.  (The suspension base was changed after complaints that the polishes were great but smelled horrible.)  I can say that this does have a polish smell but it is not at all offensive!

   Pure Ice Fairy Godmother is a perfect amethyst shade that will. not. photograph. accurately.  I tried color-correcting the photos and gave up, because by the time the polish was looking right my hands looked fiery.  Yes, this is a cool-toned purple, but it is more red than this.  It's a medium type of purple that isn't too bright, too dark, too pastel or dusty.  It also seems to have a faint hidden shimmer.  I used two coats, and coverage was very good.  The formula is on the slightly thick side.

   These are two really pretty polishes that work great together!  Pure Ice is sold at Walmart, and you can find I♥NP shades at their website:

NotD / Nail Art

   Yay for titles made from the names of polishes used!  I did some pretty pastel nails for my Happy Halfiversary (you know, the 6-month mark of being married!) manicure.

  I love layering glitter over cremes, and I love mint green with pastel pink...  Yes, I am very happy with how it all turned out!  I also love finding cheap polishes that I can fall in love with.  Here are the polishes I used:

   Finger Paints Hue Left A Message? is an adorable micro glitter which only has a cameo in this manicure.  Pure Ice Home Run, a wonderful mint green creme - I used two coats as my base!  Nyx Girls Dreamy Glitter, and Revlon Whimsical.  Then I added nail art stickers to a couple nails as accents.

   I used one coat of Whimsical over Home Run, which didn't alter the color at all because Whimsical has a similar base color that is very sheer.  You can transform it quite easily, so rather than use 4-plus coats of it alone I prefer it for layering.  After Whimsical I tried a thin coat of Hue Left A Message? on my middle finger, but the glitter was still more concentrated than I wanted.  I moved on!

   The next polish was Dreamy Glitter, a mix of pastel pink stars, iridescent hexes and small iridescent glitter in a translucent pink base.  I really love this polish!  It is easy to work with, spreading nicely and not impossible to get the stars out of the bottle.  Plus it is pretty cheap.  ;D

   To finish my manicure I used a fast-drying topcoat and went to bed.  The next morning I added a pastel nail art sticker to my accent nail so my lonely Hue Left A Message? nail wouldn't look so out of place.  I put on another top coat layer which smoothed the star glitter pieces out better.

   Thanks for letting me share these with you, hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!  A quick note on the ragged cuticle area on my index finger; I cut my finger badly two weeks ago and as it heals it keeps peeling.  I can't do much about it other than give it time.  I took these pictures at the beginning of the week and I'm still wearing this manicure today.  My index finger is looking a lot better, and amazingly my nails only have tip wear.  I'm also happy to say that my nails have grown out to a good length and patient filing has earned me an even square shape... finally!

   I'm currently rocking this totally awesome manicure that appeals to my love of black nail polish and cutesy, girly things.  I used my new L.A Girl polish from their Rock Star Nail Lacquer collection.  The color?  Rockstar.  It is a black polish with a jelly-ish quality that is loaded with purple micro-flake shimmer that flashes green in the bottle.  I have only seen purple show on my nails, but it's gorgeous and I love it anyway.

   In fact I love it so much that I took a ton of pictures of it, which you can click to see larger.  =)