opposites attract

Oy. Let's just pretend I haven't blogged for an eternity and a half, why don't we? I started my senior year of college and came down with mono all in the same week, so it's been a bit of a rough several weeks for me. However, now I've got schoolwork under control (okay that's a lie buuut...) and my tonsils are no longer the size of grapefruits so I hereby swear to blog like a NORMAL PERSON. A normal blogging person. Which is to say a lot. So don't leave me, please, I LOVE YOU!

All right all right onto the nails--

I love me some serious skittle action. This one was particularly obnoxious and thus beautiful. The white is Essie Marshmallow; light purple is Essie Lilacism; medium purple is OPI Do You Lilac It?; dark purple is NYC 006; gold is Wet n Wild The Gold & The Beautiful; and orange is Sally Hansen Sun Kissed. 

These photos were a huge triumph for me because they were the first successful set taken in my new apartment! Over the summer I was using the skylight in my bathroom for some lovely diffused natural light, and was panicking over how I would take photos once I moved (because my priorities are totally in order...) Thankfully, my apartment has this weird loft thing that isn't good for much (it doesn't even have electrical outlets...seriously, 1970s architects were rull weird) but it does have three lovely windows that make nail painting a breeeeeeeeze.

I'll have posts queued up every other day for the next couple weeks, and also some reader requests to fill! Just try to contain your excitement...

skull candy

I don't know why I felt the impulse to title this "skull candy," because that is the name of a brand that makes horribly tacky headphones, but in my defense this manicure does feature skulls and it's a skittle manicure and skittles = candy so SKULL CANDY IT IS, overpriced rasta-print headphones aside.

Sometimes I start a manicure simply by being drawn to a color combination. This one, as you can see, was pink, black, white, and grey. I wanted clean patterns that played well with the sweet-yet-tough mix of colors. The pink is OPI Mod About You, which I adore and use incessantly despite its patchy formula; the white is China Glaze White on White, the grey is Essence Got A Secret?, and the black is Wet n Wild Black Creme.

I did these nails while watching the movie Party Girl. I'd like to think Parker Posey's character would approve of them. I freehanded the half-moon on my pinky, used a large dotting tool + nail art brush for the skull, a striper brush for my middle finger, a dotting tool for my index finger, and a makeup sponge for my thumb. And I lied--the black on my thumb is Orly Androgynie, which is shimmery, though it unfortunately doesn't show up in this photo.

I should probsss take the time to apologize for the fiftieth time for being the most inconsistent nail blogger ever. I've been painting and photographing my nails, I just...keep forgetting to post them. Which is silly, because I love blogging and I really want this thing to take off and catapult me into a $200k/year blogging gig (cus those totally exist), so I should probably, you know, post regularly. Feel free to yell at me if I start slacking again.

So once again, I have like five manicures queued up to post...which is good, because in eight days I'm leaving to go back to NUEVA YORK so I won't be able to post much. I am so excited, even though the summer weather will eat me alive (me + humidity = dire enemies). Any suggestions for magnificent back-in-the-New-York-groove nail art? Holla atcha girl.

california floral

Sometimes I can be a bit of a misanthrope, but sometimes an angel comes along and reminds me that humankind is essentially good. I was in American Apparel and was inevitably drawn to the nail polish display (surprise, surprise!) I was about to buy this shade for its full price ($6), but then the extremely kind cashier directed me to a table behind me, where the exact same shade was on sale for $3 because a bit of the label was scratched off. That cashier is now my new hero and possibly future husband, though I'm pretty sure he is also into dudes.

Even though my last manicure also used a nude base, it was quite loud, so I was in the mood for something light and soft. Hence...floral print! Normally when I do floral prints, I do roses, like this, so I decided to mix it up this time and go for more daisy-looking flowers. (Don't you love my highly accurate botanical vocabulary?)

This is one coat (!!!) of American Apparel California Trooper. I don't own enough one coat polishes. They are so lovely. The blue flower petals are American Apparel American Denim with a dark center thing (more highly accurate botanical vocabulary for y'all) in OPI Dating a Royal. The purple flower petals are OPI Do You Lilac It? with centers of NYC 006. 

It looked a bit plain with just the flowers, so I filled a bit of the empty space with dots of Zoya Wednesday to create the effect of leaves.

I really like this manicure. It's fresh and simple. Other things I like: Channing Tatum's moves in Magic Mike (yes, I saw it; yes, I loved it), eating tapioca pudding for breakfast, this stupid Lana del Rey song, and the fact that today is FREE SLURPEE DAY AT 7-11! What silly simple things have been making you smile lately?

nude + neon + drips

So like...I don't know if you've heard, cus it's still kind of a big secret and no one's really caught onto it yet, but the super hawt trend for this summer is neons. Now shh! Let's keep it under wraps y'all, we don't want 75% of America running around in their super bright crop tops carrying eye-searing Cambridge satchels.

...wait, what's that you say? You already own eighteen neon things? ...well, okay. Never mind, then. But I'm still going to force you to look at this neon mani I just did because I LIKE IT, okay?

I started with two coats of OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?, a grey-toned nude from their spring 2012 Holland collection. Next, I painted a base for the drips using Sinful Colors Snow Me White, since neons show up much better over white. 

To do the drips, I used my largest dotting tool and made three dots on each  nail, varying in placement. Then I painted a thick french tip and connected the dots to the french tip. If anyone wants a more detailed tutorial, telepathically communicate it to me. Or let me know in the comments. Either works.

Next, I went over the white base of the drips in American Apparel Neon Yellow and China Glaze Shocking Pink. Neons are so damn hard to work with, guys. They're so sheer but dry so slowly. I actually did this mani twice, but the first time it chipped and dented so badly I couldn't even take photos of it, so I had to do it all again the next day. If you're trying drips for the first time, I'd suggest using a very opaque creme polish, because otherwise you might end up tearing all your hair out and collapsing in an exasperated heap on the floor, surrounded by acetone-soaked cotton balls. Or you might just shrug it off. You know, one or the other.

PS--I was serious about the tutorials bit earlier. If you'd like to know in detail how I did any specific manicure, please leave me a comment or send me an email! Pretty please. I want to hear from ALL OF YOU!

one time, i met jenny lewis at a farmer's market and she told me my nails were cute

I have an announcement to make, guys. I am retiring from the nail art scene. I'm done. Because I won it. I can't rise any higher. I might only have four followers on this blog and zero comments on any of my posts, but yesterday Jenny Lewis said my nails were cute.


Now, if you know anything about me, you know two things dominate my life: my compulsion for painting my nails and, much longer withstanding, my all-consuming love for the musician Jenny Lewis. You might know her from her now-defunct band Rilo Kiley, or her acting prowess in movies like 1989's The Wizard, as well as several Golden Girls cameos. In any case, she is a perfect human being and her music means an incredible amount to me. I even have some of her lyrics tattooed on my body, that's how much I love her. She played in my town last night so I got to see her for the fourth time. A few hours before the show, I ran into her at a farmer's market. In a fit of adrenaline-induced bravery, I went up to say hi to her. She introduced herself to me and shook my hand and said, "Oh, cute nails!"

(I really was nearly crying. Also shaking so hard it took me a good three minutes to type that status.)

The show was absolutely amazing--her vocals were the best I've ever heard--and I met her yet again after the show and got this photo with her so uhm yeah my life is now complete:

...buuuut enough of my insaneo fangirling and onto what you came here for: the nails! Or should I say...the Jennicure? Get it? Manicure...Jennicure...okay I'll stop now.

These were actually inspired by a pair of heeled saddle shoe oxfords I've seen Jenny wear before (because I am that much of a creeper). This is two coats of OPI Mod About You layered over one coat of Essie Marshmallow to help with opacity, since Mod About You is a slightly streaky, sheer creme.

The black heart shapes are Wet n Wild Black Creme, and freehanded using the bottle brush. I then used a tiny dotting tool to add dot borders of Mod About You and Black Creme.

This is a cute and easy design that would look rad with a lot of different color combinations. The pink and black is very 1950s to me--like some souped-up Cadillac or something--but I think nude and white or two pastels could look pretty too!

...aaaand that's all I have to say about nails. My head is still spinning from the day's events. Also, please tell me you got the Mean Girls reference in the title of this post...)

neon skittle tips

So...it's finals week. I have about eight bajillion pages to write in way too few days. I am probably going to die. I have absolutely no time to do anything fun or eat or bathe or breathe so naturally, I have been painting my nails instead of, you know, doing homework like a responsible person. (Sorry, Mom.)

Anyway, I really liked this manicure in theory, but next time I will definitely be more patient because as you can see, this turned out really lumpy. This is due in part to using an old bottle of Seche Vite that was super thick and sticky, but also because I was impatient and layered on all the polishes too thickly.

I started with like five coats of OPI Skull & Glossbones. It's such a cool ghostly grey-beige (greige?) but the formula absolutely sucks. I haven't seen any other bloggers complain about it so perhaps I got a screwy bottle, but the formula is very thin and runny and I ended up with a ton of bald patches.

I freehanded the colorful tips because there were so many layers of Skull & Glossbones, I didn't think it would hold up under tape. From left to right, the colors I used for the tips are:

Zoya Kylie 2
Sally Hansen Sunkissed
Zoya Robyn
Confetti Green with Envy
OPI Do You Lilac It?

I really love the combination of neutral + super brights and I guess that's like, totally in this season, or something. What are your favorite obnoxiously bright polish colors? I'm digging anything eye-searing as of late.

I have a few more manicures sitting in my queue but I probably won't get around to them until I'm done with all this damned schoolwork...so stay tuned!

nailaholic stripes

This is a public service announcement to alert you all to the best show on television: Workaholics. It's on Comedy Central (and also Netflix because who has cable in this day and age, anyway?) and is like Office Space on nitrous oxide. If you like bear puns, wizard rap battles, and "dropping shrooms," then it's the show for you. ANYWAY, since you're probably wondering why I'm ranting about this show, I'll cut to the chase: in the opening sequence of Workaholics there's a shot of a black and white striped coffee mug (with a plastic frog swimming in it, but that's beside the point). I used to have said mug and I loved it oh so much, but while unpacking in January I dropped it on my foot and it shattered everywhere. So now every time I watch Workaholics, I'm reminded of my poor deceased mug. 

Lil babby 18-year-old me holding said mug. I guess I loved it enough to have a Photobooth sesh with it...

And without further ado, here is a manicure inspired by the mug's irregular stripes!

I started with two coats of OPI Did You 'Ear About van Gogh? and then put on a coat of Seche Vite because, as I've said a zillion times, I'm too impatient to let polish dry naturally. Next I cut three strips of tape, all thin but varying in width. I used the same three strips for all nails, because I am lazy and cutting 15 tape strips sounded hellish.

Going one nail at a time, I applied the tape and painted over the nail with Wet n Wild Black Creme and then immediately pulled of the tape strips. I put on the tape in different orders/patterns on each nail, so the stripes would be irregular.

Also, I should probably thank those of you who read this blog for actually, you know, reading it, despite my tangents about TV shows and broken dishes. So thanks! All the support I've gotten for this silly habit of mine has been really wonderful. Y'all are da best.

what would YOU do if your mother asked you?

Tomorrow is a magical day here at Vassar College. It's Founder's Day, an annual event that celebrates the birthday of the college's founder, Matthew Vassar. He was a really short British dude with a penchant for top hats. Here is a photo of Meryl Streep dressed up as Matty Vass:

Total goddess, amirite?

Anyway, the coolest thing about Matthew Vassar (other than the fact he started a college for women) is that he was a brewer. Yep, that dude made beer for a living. Although most schools would argue that they have beer instead of blood in their veins, at Vassar that's actually quite true. So to continue the legacy of Matthew Vassar, the original party monster, every April we spend a whole day outside riding carnival rides, eating cotton candy, dancing to live music, and getting very sunburned. It is the best day, and every year Founder's Day has a specific theme. This year the theme is Dr. Seuss.

You all know of my unabashed love for Dr. Seuss (I mean, how could I not, with an elementary school educator for a mother?), so naturally I was THRILLED about the theme. I could go on for ages about how excited I am about all this, but you came here for nails and not rants about college histories and German authors with cool pen names, so onto my fingers:

I had grand plans for full-on nail art on every nail, but my grandma-like qualities were in full-force today and I was shaking too badly to do anything fancy, so I settled on a Cat in the Hat accent nail. The blue is OPI Dating a Royal, which is so so pretty but has a tendency towards bald spots, as you can see on my middle and pinky fingers. Booooo.

Then I put H&M Confetti kisses, a mix of large silver hex glitter and silver microglitter, on the tips of my nails. Apparently my flash hates silver glitter because you can barely see it in these photos. Oh well; just imagine all the sparkly goodness, okay?

To make the hat on my ring finger and thumb (and I'm not going to show you my thumb because a corner of the nail ripped yesterday and now it looks awful), I started with a base of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Then I topped it with Seche Vite because I am impatient, waited a few minutes, then used tape to create the red stripes with H&M Berry Love. I used a small paintbrush for the black outlines and my attempt at Dr. Seuss-esque shading, which on my nail kind of just looks like I suck at nail art. Don't worry about it.

Sorry that this post was 99% me blathering about how much I love my school and 1% nails. But hey, it's my blog, right? I DO WHAT I WANT!

"Then he said, 'That is that.' And then he was gone, with the tip of his hat. Then our mother came in and said said to us two, 'Did you have any fun? Tell me. What did you do?' And Sally and I did not know what to say. Should we tell her the things that went on there that day? She we tell her about it? Now, what SHOULD we do? Well...what would YOU do if your mother asked YOU?"

galaxies, revisited

I first started dabbling in nail art in July 2011. My attempts were...sloppy, to say the least, and everything took me forever. A few days before I left for Spain, I put on Trainspotting and decided to use Cutepolish's tutorial to do galaxy nails. It took me the entire movie--over two hours--to finish the manicure, and it was still pretty messy. I don't even want to go into how messy my cuticles were...but anyway, eight months later, I decided to reattempt the galaxy manicure. I'm happy to report that this time it took me under 45 minutes. Practice makes perfect, you guys :)

Polishes used:
Wet n Wild Black Creme
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
China Glaze Lemon Fizz
China Glaze Fairy Dust
OPI Do You Lilac It?
OPI Dating a Royal

I started out with a base of Black Creme, then using a bit of a makeup sponge held in tweezers, I sponged on Snow Me White to form the basic galaxy shapes. Then I added Dating a Royal around the edges, Lemon Fizz in the center, and Do You Lilac It? in the spots that still looked too white.

Using the small end of a dotting tool, I added star clusters using Snow Me White, and then topped everything off with a coat of Fairy Dust. It's a holographic microglitter that China Glaze actually just discontinued, so if you're interested in it, buy it ASAP before it starts selling for exorbitant prices on eBay! Here's an out-of-focus shot so you can see all the pretty holo goodness in Fairy Dust:

And the best part is, my nails now match the background of my phone AND computer...I downloaded some awesome high-res photos of nebulae from the Hubble telescope's website, so I can always have stars to look at, even in the smoggiest of cities!

acid water color

Today I tried to do a really smooth neon tri-color gradient. Instead of looking summery and chic, it ended up looking like a Flinstones push pop...and not in a good way. So I scrapped it and went for another color-blending technique, since I've been doing too many gradients anyway. This was really easy to do--all you need is two different polishes, a small paintbrush, and acetone.

First, I painted my nails with two coats of NYC 006. It's a dark purple creme and has a weird numbered name because I bought it in Spain, and NYC makes different products for Europe. Then I layered on two coats of OPI Skull and Glossbones, a totally awesome ghostly grey-beige from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.

After that dried a bit (but not fully), I dipped a small concealer brush (the same one I use to clean up the edges of my nails) in acetone, and then just brushed my nails to take off some of the Skull & Glossbones. I've seen this technique used with blue and white polish to look like acid-wash jeans, but with the purple and grey I think this looks more like watercolors. Anything, really, as long as they don't look like these super fugly jeans.

I'm confident even the most nail-incompetent could replicate this look. Try it and send me a link to your attempt!

mod sorbet

Because I love you all so very much, I'm going to let you in on a super top-secret nail art tip: gradient manicures are the easiest thing EVER and they look totally awesome. You only need four things: two different shades of polish, a makeup sponge, and a piece of paper.

For this gradient, I used a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet. It's a little bluer in real life than it looks in these photos. Then I put a little pool of OPI Mod About You onto a piece of paper, dipped a makeup sponge into it, and applied it to my nail, starting at the tip. I use wedge sponges (you can find a pack for a couple dollars at any drugstore), and one sponge can last forever if you just tear off the bits that have dried polish on them!

It will probably take a few sponged-on coats to get the desired effect. Just remember to always start at the free edge (tip) of your nail, so that is where the color is most concentrated, and work your way towards the cuticle.

See? Totally easy-peasy, and it's great if you're indecisive like me and can't pick just one color to wear. It's the best of both worlds! (Is that Hannah Montana stuck in your head now? Yes? Thought so. Sorry.)

Gradients also look awesome when you use glitter polish, and it's a great way to ease yourself into wearing glitter if you think a full glitter mani is too much. Also, glitter gradients are even easier than this because you can just use the polish brush, like I did in my Hunger Games manicure!

PS--holy cow, my nails are long in this. Never again. I don't get it how girls can function with mile-long acrylics. Do you like, not need to type or text or tie your shoes or do dishes or...?

friday night moon

STORY TIME: I was in Baltimore a couple weeks ago needed cash but couldn't find a Chase ATM anywhere so I came up with the best plan ever: go to Rite Aid, buy some nail polish, and get cash back. I'm totally fine with convenience fees in the form of nail polish :) Wet n Wild polishes were on sale for 69¢ each and I picked up a few I didn't already have, including the gorgeous Blue Moon. It's a midnight blue with flashes of teal.

I'm usually not a fan of shimmer polishes, but this one is more duochromey than frosty. (Yes, duochromey is now a word. Don't question it.) The formula on this polish was great--two easy coats that dried quickly.

Look at that teal! Loveeeee. Of course, since I'm incapable of leaving my nails painted a single color, I added one coat of OPI Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry collection.

Pros of this polish: it's beauuuuutiful (blue, green, pink, and iridescent glitter in a sheer blue base)
Cons: you get Katy Perry stuck in your head for the next eight hours after looking at the bottle

...but I'll put up with the cons. This polish is far too sheer to wear on its own, but it makes a lovely layering polish.

The combination of Blue Moon's teal shimmer with Last Friday Night's round microglitter reminded me of bioluminescent bacteria in the ocean. Normally bacteria is the last thing I want my nails to look like, but I promise, bioluminescence is pretty damn beautiful.

So there you have it! Katy Perry and bacteria-inspired nails. Proof that inspiration can be found in the very strangest places.

80s film

Last week I got suckered into Zoya's Good Morning America promotion, because apparently I have zero willpower when it comes to nail polish sales. I mean, three bottles from their summer 2012 Surf collection for 50% off?! I added that baby to my cart without even thinking about it. (Oops.)

Anyway, this lovely dusty teal is Zoya Wednesday. It seemed a lot brighter and bluer in other swatches I've seen on the internet, but I still like it a lot. Since I'm in capable of having plain nails, I used tape to create colorblocks using OPI My Private Jet, and a dotting tool to add little dots of Wednesday. I'm not sure how I feel about this; without the dots, it looked totally 80s--too 80s for my taste, and that's saying something. Once I added the dots, it started to look like film strips, so...here we are.

Using tape is an easy way to get crisp lines in a manicure. My tips are pretty much the same as they were for a half-moon manicure:

• Cut your tape strips BEFORE you start painting your nails
• Let your base colo dry completely before applying the tape, otherwise the tape will badly smudge the base polish. It's probably a good idea to use a quick-dry top coat to speed up the process.
• Stick the tape to your hand/arm/leg before putting it on your nail, to make it less sticky.
• Remove the tape immediately after applying your second color.

I've been really into stripes and geometric shapes lately, so perhaps they'll be more tape manicures on here soon!

I speak for the trees!

It's no secret that The Lorax is one of my favorite books. My parents raised me on Dr. Seuss and my love continues til today--I even used to wear a ring with the Lorax on it, and I have a copy of the book on my bookshelf at school, sandwiched between a psychology textbook and Christophrt Hitchens' Letters to a Young Contrarian. Anyway, when I was home for spring break, my mom and I had a movie and dinner date to go see The Lorax movie. I've absolutely hated all other Seuss movies (except the 1960s cartoons, of course), so I was a little nervous, but I LOVED it. I may or may not have cried multiple times...shhhh.

For this manicure I started with a base of Zoya Robyn, the most lovely electric blue with an awesome formula. My thumb is OPI Skull and Glossbones and my ring finger is Sally Hansen Sunkissed. All the nail art was freehanded using a small paintbrush. The yellow is China Glaze Lemon Fizz, the pink is Wet n Wild Dreamy Poppy, and the green is Confetti Green with Envy. Because I forgot to pack a black creme polish, I had to use OPI My Private Jet for the outlines, which wasn't ideal but it got the job done, I suppose.

Anyway, I loved this manicure so much. If you have any recommendations for book (or movie)-themed manicures, let me know in the comments!

swedish lace

I did this manicure a couple months ago after buying my favorite blue, OPI Dating a Royal. I wore Dating a Royal by itself for a day until I caved and had to add something. I freehanded the lace pattern using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and a dotting tool.

As you can see, it's a little uneven, because this was my first attempt. I'm thinking of recreating this soon with different colors--maybe I'll even make a tutorial! Stay tuned...

spring overload

The internet has been awash in a deluge of Easter-themed manicures. I'm not religious, and although I adore Easter candy I think all those eggs and rabbits are rather tacky. However, I do love pastels and florals--and I can't resist holiday-themed nails--so, well, here we are.

These are maybe the worst flowers I've done yet. Ignore that unsightly blob on my index finger...
I used a base of my favorite white, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, and OPI Mod About You with Borghese Belissima Rose for the roses. The leaves are Confetti Green with Envy. I did the roses using a large dotting tool to apply the light pink, and then a small paintbrush for the dark pink accents and the petals. My thumb and ring finger are an unnamed purple microglitter from Urban Outfitters over OPI Do You Lilac It?

My lovely friend Alex invited me and all our girlfriends to her house for Easter brunch, and these coordinate with the dress I'm wearing. (Actually, the dress is floral too, so I might just end up being obnoxiously flowery. Whatever, I dig it.) I'm so excited to eat some homemade food...and perhaps an entire box of Peeps? No, that would be gross. I totally haven't done that before would never do that.

Happy Passover/Easter/second weekend of April, everyone!

stars & stripes

I stole borrowed some paper hole reinforcements from work the other day, so I knew I wanted to do a half-moon manicure. (For those of you who couldn't tell from the photo, a half-moon manicure is when the crescent-shaped base of your nails--where some people naturally have a white arch--is painted a different color from the rest of your nail.) But I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with it, so I did something I've never done before: just started painting without a clear plan in mind.

The first full-coverage polish I grabbed was Sinful Colors Snow Me White. When doing a half-moon mani, it's smart to choose a polish that gives good coverage in just one (thick) coat. I didn't feel like waiting for a base color to dry, so I put on my reinforcement stickers and applied Snow Me White. After that was done, I decided pretty quickly I was going to make this nauseatingly American-themed, because why not? So using a small paintbrush I added stripes of OPI Dating a Royal (one of my favorite polishes ever, it's just so gorgeous) over the white, and stars of H&M Berry Love on my bare half-moons.

I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I think it looks cute with my newly rounded nails--I'm usually a square nail type of girl, but they were breaking too easily like that, so...here we are.

Some tips for doing a half-moon manicure:

• Cut your reinforcement stickers in half. They're much more flexible this way; otherwise you might not be able to get it thoroughly pressed down at the edges of your nail.
• Go one finger at a time. I actually used the same two halves of a sticker for all my fingers. Place the sticker, put on a thick layer of polish, and then IMMEDIATELY remove the sticker. If you wait too long, the polish will drag and smear when you take off the sticker.
• Use tweezers to apply and take off the stickers. As you get more nails wet, the more you risk smearing wet polish as you deal with the stickers. An easy solution to this problem is using tweezers--no risk of smudging or denting!