Computer Chip Nails!

I got my 2013 Bundle Monster plates!!  I love them!  There are so many great designs!  The pattern I was most excited about is this one:

I am a bit geeky, so this pattern really got me excited!  It took me a while to decide on the colors that I'd use.  I used two coats of Rimmel Hard Metal as my base color and then used stamping plate BM415.  My stamping color is Essie Penny Talk again.  That is my best stamping polish.  I would love to get more of Essie's chrome colors but they are a little expensive for me, a lowly college student.  ; )  I used two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly to finish off the manicure.  

Barbed Wire

I am still impatiently waiting for my 2013 Bundle Monster plates to come, so I felt like stamping my nails today:

I used two coats of Sally Hansen Black Out as my base color.  When that was dry I used Sally Hansen Penny Talk to stamp on the barbed wire.  This image is from Bundle Monster's plate BM-323.  The best polishes to stamp with are highly pigmented and of a thick consistency.  Chromes work very well, too.  If you have any old polishes that are a little too thick to paint your nails with, consider saving them and trying to stamp with them.  Thicker polishes stamp beautifully.  I applied a thick coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly to seal in the manicure.

Half Moons Again

I really like half moon manicures!  I love how they are actually vintage, too.

My base color is Sally Hansen Golden-I.  After painting on two coats of that, I applied a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly and then, once that was dry, applied half a hole reinforcer to each of my nails.  I made sure each was pressed down tightly before painting on my red, which is Rimmel Burgundy Flirt, one of my favorite reds.  As soon as I painted the red on each nail, I used tweezers to remove the hole reinforcer.  I applied two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly to protect the manicure.  

I really love this look!  Under light you can see the sparkles from the gold through the red polish.  The pictures don't do the color justice.  The red is really a perfect blood red color.  I think this is a great Christmas look.  It is very classy and elegant.   

Oh!  I changed the settings of my blog so that anybody can leave a comment.  If you do not have a Gmail account or anything like that, you can leave a comment under "anonymous."  I am still learning how to use Blogger, so bear with me.  =)

Star Trek Nails II

Sorry I have not posted for a while!  Since I am nearing the end of a semester, school has been crazy.  I have not gotten around to doing my nails again, so this manicure was actually one I did a while ago:

I used Rimmel Stiletto Red as my base color and then painted on the silver Star Trek insignias with Icing Metal Head.  I think I used a dotting tool to create them.  I then used a black striper (Milani Black Sketch) to create the details.  The symbols in these insignias are for engineering in "Star Trek: The Original Series."  I used Sally Hansen Dries Instantly as my top coat.

So, a couple days ago I ordered the 2013 collection of Bundle Monster nail stamping plates.  I am super excited for them to come!  I just have their 2012 collection and this 2013 collection seems ever better!  I love the new designs!

Dot Gradient

I saw this super cool picture tutorial for this design on my Facebook news feed this morning and NEEDED to try it out.  The tutorial is by Quite Polished.  I just went to her blog and it is great!  You'll have to check it out!  http://quitepolished.blogspot.com/

The green color is Essie Da Bush; the white is Sally Hansen Hard to Get; and the blue is Sinful Colors Rain Storm.  I painted on two coats of each color.  (To be honest, I would not recommend this white polish to anybody.  Two coats is just barely enough.  If my nails were only white, I would need three coats.)  After that was dry, I used a small dotting tool to create the dots.  (I got a very inexpensive pack of dotting tools from Amazon, but if you don't have a dotting tool, a toothpick works.  The colored end of a straight pin works, as well.)

I put lots of dots at the tips-- some overlapping to make them look crowded.  I then put them sort of close together in the middle regions.  Near the cuticles I tried to space them more.  I have not got the gradient effect perfect, but that will get easier with practice.  I will finish this manicure off with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.  To tell you the truth, I do not always have a top coat on in these pictures.  A lot of times I take the photos right after finishing the design because I do not want something to happen to them in between finishing them and taking a picture.  Also, if you apply a top coat too soon, the design will smudge.  Sally Hansen Dries Instantly works great when the design is all dry, though.

I used pure acetone on a flat nail art brush to create a clean line around the edges of my nails.  To clean my nail art brushes, I swish them around in acetone and then rinse them in water.  The bristles get very stiff if acetone is left in them.  

Stripes Galore

I have not used striping tape for a while, so I decided to today:

I used two coats of Rimmel Mintilicious as my base color.  After that was dry I applied a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly to make the bottom color not come up with the striping tape.  After that was dry I applied striping tape where I wanted to see the bluey color.  I made sure the tape was pressed down around my cuticles and then painted on Rimmel Wild Orchid.  I then immediately removed the striping tape with a pair of tweezers.

Once all that was dry I used a nail art brush dipped in acetone to create a clean line around the edges of my nails.  I then used a striper nail art brush dipped in Nicole Glitter In My Stocking to make a sparkly line across my thumb nails.  I finished off the manicure with two coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Remember: if you have overlapping striping tape, keep track of which pieces are on top and which are on bottom (the order you placed them on) to avoid ruining the manicure while removing the tape.  I ALWAYS forget to pay attention to that and then have to guess the order in which I placed the tape.  I decided to put that gold stripe on my thumb because it looked and little empty AND because I messed up the center of the "X" because I forgot the order in which I placed the tape.