Beauty Obsessed: ABC Nail Challenge

4/26/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: P is for Polka Dots!

This week for the ABC Nail Challenge I choose polka dots for the letter P. I know, it's not too original but there are so many different looks you can create with a few dotting tools.

Going along with the "P" theme I used Scandal by Sinful Colors (one of my favorite pinks) and Popular by Revlon on my accent nail. You can't really tell in the picture but Popular has both silver micro and hex glitter which makes this such a pretty color. I know a lot of other beauty bloggers love it too.

I didn't have a set look I wanted to achieve so I just began dotting small and large dots on the sides of my nails. I didn't want to do the usual straight dots across, I wanted something a little different.

I haven't done a polka dot mani in a long time so it was fun and I like how they turned out. What are your thoughts on polka dot nails, do you like them or no?

Click the links below :)

4/17/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: O is for Ombre

Hey everyone! We're on the letter O in the ABC Nail Challenge this week, (already)! This week has been a crazy one for me, so much that I knew I wouldn't have time to do my nails or at least with the effort I would want. I remembered an ombre manicure I did recently and figured I would post those pictures instead of skipping out totally this week.

Savage and Scandal by Sinful Colors are such pretty colors alone and I really like how they look together. The more I look at these pictures they remind me of the summer, the beach and cotton candy!

This was my first go at ombre nail art so I played it safe with two colors but I want to try it again soon with three or four. It's a fun look and easy to do even though it was more of last years trend, I don't care. I'm looking forward to next week and coming up with something fun for the letter P. You should definitely check out the looks from the other participants in this challenge :)

Click the links below :)

4/11/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: N is for Neon

Hey guys!! This week is the letter N for the ABC Nail Challenge I've been
participating in. Kimber from Kimber's Lacquer Korner is the creator of this challenge and has an amazing collection of nail art on her blog!

So this week I chose a neon polish, Finger Paints Iconic Orange from there 2012 Summer Neon Collection. I bought it in October for Halloween but never ended up using it. I don't wear orange polish too often so this is rare for me.

I'm really disappointed that you can't see how bright and neon this color really is. I've never tried to capture neon colors or at least this bright so maybe it's normal for it to be difficult. I always use my digital camera for my nail pics but even after playing around with all the settings I could not get it even close to the real color. So I tried my iphone and it's still not great but its a lot better than my camera. I think that's so strange, but anyway just picture one of those super bright orange highlighters and that's what my nails look like.

This is two coats but even with one it was still super bright and I didn't need to use a white base like some other neon colors need. It dries matte but topcoat quickly fixed that. This isn't a color I would wear all the time but I think it would look really cool on your toes, especially in the summer!

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week, I usually like to have at least 3 or 4 but like I said my camera wasn't cooperating. I'm going to go check out what the other participants came up with this week :)

Click the links below :)

4/04/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: M is for Matte

Another ABC Nail Challenge post! I cant believe we're on the letter M already, that just shows how fast the weeks fly by. I really didn't have to think too hard when it came to what I wanted to do. I go through stages where I'm really into the matte finish and I just happen to be in that stage now so it was perfect.

Instead of using the usual black, I used a charcoal grey, it's actually one of Sally Hansen's Magnetic Polishes in Graphite Gravity. Of course I didn't use the magnet even though this is a good magnetic polish. Then I used NYC Matte Me Crazy topcoat. I just recently picked this up for a few dollars at Walmart and it works really well.

I used a silver polish to make dots around the sides of the nails. I've had these little packets of different color nail glitter that I found and decided to throw some of the silver glitter on my accent nail for fun.

I didn't have time to do my nails yesterday after work so I literally just did them and I'm pleased with how they came out. So now I'm gonna go paint my other hand!! There's been a few times in this challenge where I wasn't happy with my nails so I wouldn't even bother doing my other hand. Am I the only one who does that?

Are you a fan of the matte finish or matte polish?

Click the links below :)

3/28/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: L is for Leopard

This week we're on the letter L for the ABC Nail Challenge hosted by Kimber over at
Kimber's Lacquer Korner. If you like nail polish and nail art you should really check her out then, she has a lot of amazing looks!

Anyway, this week was a lot easier on me than last week's Hello Kitty disaster! There were more choices this week. I had a few polishes that began with L but none that I was crazy about using, so I chose a leopard print mani. Leopard print is always fun and besides it's been a while since I did one.

Instead of the traditional golden leopard colors I picked a brighter combo, blue and silver. I used Celeb City by Sally Hansens Xtreme Wear and Savage by Sinful Colors. They look a bit sloppy up close but they're not supposed to be perfect so it's okay. I always used a dotting tool for the nail art in the past but I found that using a thin nail art brush helped to speed the process along.

You should also check out the other participants looks this week, they always come up with really cool ideas!

Click the links below :)

3/20/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: K is for Hello Kitty

This week we're on the letter K for the ABC Nail Challenge and I had a hard time with this one. I didn't have a nail polish or brand that began with K. So then I thought of nail art and couldn't think of anything except stamping. I do have stamping plates but there not by Konad so that wasn't going to work. My last resort was Hello Kitty nail art and I'm not even sure if this is allowed since it technically doesn't begin with a K. If I'm breaking the rules I'm sorry :)

I am not really good at detailed nail art so I wasn't expecting this to come out great and as you can see it didn't. It might have not looked so bad if I didn't end up putting my top coat on too soon and smearing the eyes and nose! I attempted to fix it but I think I just made it worse.

This is obviously my worst week so far which is why I only posted two pictures, but it happens. I'm looking forward to redeeming myself next week :) Like always, I'm excited to see what all the other participants came up with this week!!

Click the links below :)

3/13/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: J is for Jelly Sandwich

This week we're on the letter J in the ABC Nail Challenge hosted by Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner. She is amazing at nail art so if you want to see some real inspiration check her out! I decided to do a Jelly Sandwich manicure, I haven't done one in a while and I'm in a glittery kind of mood today.

For the base and top color I used Splash by Pure Ice and for the glitter I used Nail Junkie by Sinful Colors. Splash is a frosty pale blue shimmer that needs 3 coats for full opacity. Nail Junkie is a sheer teal jelly filled with flecks of silver, blue and green glitter. It's a little thick and gloppy but not too hard to apply, especially if you're just layering it, but still one of my favs from Sinful Colors.

I almost didn't want to apply the third layer (of Splash) because I loved the way Nail Junkie looked over Splash alone, but this is a Jelly Sandwich so I added it and liked it. I'm sure I'm not going to like removing this but thank god for the foil method!!

I wish my camera was able to capture better pictures of my nails, especially when I'm wearing glitter because you can't see the exact color/effect of what I see.

I don't know what made me think of this but instead of using my regular top coat I used my Matte-ly In Love by Hard Candy. I guess I was also in a Matte mood too :) I love glossy nails but I also really like the look of matte finished glitters. It totally changes the look of your manicure. You can't really tell in the pictures but it makes the glitters individually pop.

I'm going to check out what all the other ladies have done this week, make sure to check them out too :)

Click the links below :)

3/06/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: I is for In A Flurry!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! This week is letter I for the ABC Nail Challenge and its not an easy one for nail art. I couldn't think of any nail art or designs that began with I. But that's okay because this week I have In a Flurry by Sally Hansen Insta-Dri to show you.

In a Flurry is a blackened-teal base color packed with shimmer. The colors I saw the most were green, purple and gold. These are one of those colors that looks different in the bottle. When I look at the bottle it seems like there is some duchcrome but you cant really see it on your nails. When the light hits your nails in a certain way you can see some yellow, gold, green, silver and purple flashes. So it's really an amazing color. I'm only showing 3 pictures since the color changes so easily and is hard to capture.

This was the best picture I got in terms of it's true color.

The formula is really nice, I was expecting it to be more thick, maybe because all of the other SH Insta-Dri polishes I have are but this one was thin. The first coat is really sheer so I used 3 coats for full opacity.

I'm not 100% positive but I thought I read or heard somewhere that this color is part of a limited edition collection. The only time I've seen this sold anywhere was CVS a few months ago when I bought it. I could be wrong though. Don't forget to check out all the other ladies participating in this challenge :)

Click the links below :)

2/28/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: H is for Half Moon

This week we are on the letter H for the ABC Nail Challenge and I was hoping to use a nail polish that's name began with a H but I only had a few and they weren't my favs. This was kinda a rushed mani and that's why I didn't get the post up last night :( Anyway, I chose to do a half moon manicure even though this isn't a look I love. I only tried it once last year because it was required in the other nail challenge I participated in. I remember not liking the outcome at all and it being hard to get all the moon shapes equal in size. I wouldn't say these came out great but I guess there not too horrible.

Radiant by Revlon

The colors I used for this look were: Snow me white by Sinful Colors for the moon and Fashionista by Revlon for the top color. Fashionista is a dark saturated teal cream shade and the consistency is almost perfect making it very easy to apply. This color always looks better in person than it does in the pictures; it doesn't look as patchy. I added a coat of Radiant by Revlon to my accent nail. Radiant has a blue clear tinted base with blue glitter and larger green and silver hexagon shaped glitter. It's perfect for layering over Fashionista since the colors are so similar. Then of course used Seche Vite for my top coat.

Fashionista by Revlon-Sorry for the blurry pic :(

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

I used those hole reinforcement stickers for the first few nails but those things don't like to stick too well to your nail so then I used french manicure guides for the rest of the nails. That's why some of them have a neater line than others. If I wasn't in a rush I probably would have started over again.

Now I'm off to see what the rest of the ladies came up with this week. Make sure to check them out too, they always come up with great looks :)

Click the links below :)

2/20/2013

ABC Nail Challenge: Letter G

Hey Everyone!! This week is letter G for the ABC Challenge and I decided to do a Gold Glitter mani. I think I'll always love glitter polishes no matter year, season or day it is. I also did some nail art using scotch tape.

I used Black Out by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear for my base on all my nails except my ring finger. Then I applied a coat of Seche Vite and let them dry for a good 20 minutes. With two pieces of regular Scotch tape I made a triangle shape to place on my nails and filled in the area with a coat of Gold Coin by Revlon. While the polish was still wet I carefully removed the tape. Once I did all my nails I applied another coat of Seche Vite, can you tell that's my favorite top coat? :)

On my ringer finger I used Milani's Jewl FX in Gold. I have a few of the other polishes in the Jewel FX collection and there more of a fine glitter but this one takes it up a few notches. To me this isn't normal glitter polish, it's like a dense layer of miniature sequences in a clear base. You can't paint it on like usual, for me I found it easiest to just apply a few blobs and use a toothpick to separate the glitter until my whole nail was covered.

I'm excited to check out all the other ladies nail looks this week!! If you want to take part of this challenge just go to Kimber's Laquer Korner and let her know you're interested!!:)

Click the links below :)