Fourth of July Dots

Hi, everyone! Today's July 4th Nail Art features dots of all different sizes. To accomplish this look, I used a dotting tool and Zoya Song, Elisa, Trixie, and Purity.

This is actually a really simple look to do on your own and doesn't require a lot of dexterity. Anybody can do it!

Is this something you think you might try for July 4th?

Zoya Jewel Tone Circus Dots

Hello again, everyone! Today I'm bringing you some nail art using the Zoya Fall 2013 Collection!

When they first came in the mail, the two that stood out immediately to me were Mason, a metallic magenta, and Giovanna, a metallic teal.

As I was swatching Flynn, a caramel creme shade, I thought about how nice of a contrast there was between the brown and the jewel tones.

Here is the end result and it is one of my favorite color combinations to date!

The contrast between the jewel tones and the neutral is definitely highlighted in the sun. I loved rocking this combo!

More sparkle!

What do you think of this color and design combo? I'm in such a polka dot mood lately!

Swatch and Review: Dermelect Buzzworthy and Fearless

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

I was recently sent two of the shades from Dermelect's new Fearless Beauty Collection!

Fearless is a collaboration between Fear No Beauty's Karie Frost, the Beauty Director for Nail It! magazine and NAILPRO, and Dermelect's Creative Director/Celebrity Manicurist, Elle.

Birthday Floral Nails

Happy Hump Day! The week is halfway over... don't stress yourself too much!

Today's manicure is actually my birthday nails. I painted them late Wednesday night and am still wearing them. Seriously. I LOVE them!

I never had the confidence to try the shabby-chic floral look. But after seeing a manicure from The Crumpet, I changed my mind and took a stab at it. (Also, after failing miserable in trying to do a water marble featuring Cult Nails Time Traveler, which left my hands stained navy blue for a night after it went terribly wrong. Oops.)

Swatch and Review: China Glaze Tranzitions

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today, I have for you three of the new Tranzitions shades from China Glaze!

The Tranzitions are a form of color-changing polish in which the use of top coat triggers the color shift. In all of the swatches with the dual colors, I used China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.

First up is Shape Shifter, a gunmetal metallic polish. This was opaque in just one coat. The color itself was pretty, but very streaky. I did my best to hide the brushstrokes, but I wasn't thrilled with the end result.

Here is Shape Shifter with the top coat. I wanted to do some designs on the nail so you could see the difference with and without top coat. As you can see, the color shifts to a blurple that I'm pretty fond of and would probably wear on its own.

This one is Altered Reality, a teal metallic polish that was opaque in one coat. This was even more streaky than Shape Shifter.

The french tip I did was with two coats of top coat and it barely made a difference. The shift wasn't enough to be noticeable for me. This was by far my least favorite of the three.

Split Perso-nail-ity was my favorite of the three and probably the only one I'd wear again. It's a dusty pink that changes to more of a magenta. This is with two coats to even out the streakiness.

And here is the color with the top coat. I used a dotting tool to create the polka dots and then dotted the original color back on to hollow them out. I thought this was a pretty easy way to do nail art.

The pros: Versatile color. Need only one bottle for multiple looks.

The cons: Slow dry time unless you use a top coat, but you can't if you want any portion to remain pink. These shades also stained my nails. Additionally, the brushstrokes are not really attractive to me in the first two shades and not nearly enough of a color shift.

The Tranzitions collection is currently available at ULTA and other beauty retail stores. For more information, please visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook (@ChinaGlazeOfficial), Twitter (@ChinaGlaze) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/chinaglaze).

What do you think of the Tranzitions? Do you have a favorite?

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information please visit my Disclaimer page.

Swatch and Review: It's So Easy Sunday

Good afternoon, everyone! Sorry for the delay... some NASTY storms ripped through the Tri-State area yesterday and I was without power for a while. But now I'm back with a fun and funky design I tried out on Friday night.

Using black and silver Stripe Rite paint and the dotting tool from It's So Easy, I was in the mood to rock some ladybug nails, but wasn't quite sure what to do.

After experimenting around a little (with a few complete disasters), I finally settled on a manicure that I liked!

These are my Ladybug nails! The thumb, which I struggled to get a good shot of, looks just like the pinky.

I normally don't rock an accent nail, but I wanted to paint a ladybug and I thought it'd be silly to paint it over red. So silver seemed like the best option.

Remember, you can visit the website at www.itssoeasynails.com for more information on the variety of products and retailers near you. Be sure to also check out their Facebook, Instagram at @ItsSoEasyNails, Twitter, and Pinterest pages!

So what do you think everyone? Would you try this trend at home?

See you tomorrow!
Princess Polish

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information please visit my Disclaimer page. 

Zoya Memorial Day Dotticure

Happy Sunday, everyone! I'm posting this a day early because I know most of us do our holiday themed manicures a day in advance and because I'm going to be gone for all of tomorrow. It's my first day off from work since I graduated and I am INCREDIBLY excited to sit by the pool and relax. Maybe have a Malibu Bay Breeze... or three.

I haven't done a Zoya-centric post in a while (GASP!), so I figured now would be an excellent occasion to do so. For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, you got a sneak preview yesterday afternoon!

I wanted to do something fun and funky, but wanted to avoid painting the American flag. I love Old Glory, but it's so overused for Memorial/Independence Day. So I decided to stick with just the red white, and blue, but keep it playful at the same time. And what's more playful than polka dots?

I picked out Zoya Snow White, Zoya Sarah (my all-time fave Zoya), and Zoya Ibiza because a: they're gorgeous and b: I thought they best matched the colors of the flag.

Using a double-ended dotting tool with the biggest and smallest points, I scattered dots all around my nails. I started with the big dots first, dotting Ibiza and then Sarah. Seeing the white space that was left, I flipped to the tiny end and dotted Ibiza and then Sarah to fill in the holes.

I repeated the small dots to fill in the spaces, varying the amount of polish on the end to make it look like there were more than two sized dots on the nail.

I'm really happy with how this came out. I think that it's definitely what I was looking for in that it's really playful and fitting with Memorial Day, but I could also get away with wearing it another few days because it doesn't have a distinctive theme. I love when nail art is versatile!

Are you thinking of trying a dotticure for your Memorial Day plans? Enjoy the BBQ's and hopefully, nice weather!
Princess Polish

Easter Mani Day 1: Gradient Dots + A Contest

I mentioned on the Princess Polish Facebook page that I would be doing a different Easter-themed manicure Monday-Friday to give you some inspiration for Easter Sunday.  But I need something to post on Saturday and that's where you come in!

Please email me (PrincessPolishBlog@gmail.com) your best Easter mani idea and I will post the top five on Saturday! You can submit them to me through Friday 4/6 at 8pm EST, when the contest will close. I'll be sending each winner a surprise polish in the mail, so be sure to enter!

Now, onto Day 1!

As you all know by now, my love for Zoya is unending. Hence, my Beach and Surf Collection giveaway. So upon rifling through my personal collection, I came to realize that the shades I owned the most of were Zoya blues.

I didn't have the patience to sit and use a cosmetic sponge to do an actual blue gradient like the one I did last fall. So I decided the next best thing would be gradient dots.

Going through my polish, I tried to shades that flowed well together and finally made up my mind.

From left to right, I picked out Ibiza, Tart, Tallulah, Jo, Kristen, and later on, Maisie. I didn't quite know what I wanted to use as the base color for the five, then I realized I could use Kristen as the base. Since I've been dying to get some use out of Maisie, I put on two coats of her after two coats of Kristen.

Instead of doing the dots straight across, I wanted to add a little bit of a wave to them. It ws very easy with my double-ended dotting tool. Some look straighter than others. Here's the end result:

 And here is the mani in the sun! You can really see the fleck effect from Maisie!

Would this be something you would wear for Easter? If you decide to try it, please feel free to post the picture on the Facebook page!

Princess Polish