Criss Cross Striping Tape Mani

TGIF, my lovelies! I'm so ready for this week to be over. Aren't all of you?

Today's post is going to be a bit short. It is my first foray into striping tape and I was pretty happy with the end result. I think with a little more practice, I'll be ready for a how-to post!

I used Nfu Oh 61 as a base with Rimmel Black Satin as the top coat. I like Black Satin because it dries with a rubbery texture that is a nice contrast to the linear holo of Nfu Oh.

I know there's a little jaggedness to some of the lines, stupid macro! They're not this noticeable in person.

Is this something you would try? Would you want to see a tutorial?

Review: It's So Easy Saturday - Watermelon Nails

Happy Saturday! Another It's So Easy Saturday is upon us and I shifted a little bit away from the fabulous Stripe Rite paints and moved onto one of my passions in life: RHINESTONES!

 

The rhinestones come in six different shapes, in multicolor and clear. I like this packaging better than the rhinestone wheels because each little section has its own tab that lifts, so I'm never disturbing more than one section.

And while I was skeptical about the rhinestone stick, with a little silicone piece at each end (large and small), it worked very well. Honestly, it was much better than the top coat method I had been using before this.

Here was the end result of my watermelon nails! I used a glitter green foil (Zoya Ivanka) for the tips and a bright pink for the flesh of the fruit (Rimmel Posh Pink) and of course, the Stripe Rite paints for the seeds. On the ring finger, I thought it'd be cool to do an accent nail with the rhinestones instead because this shape looked JUST like seeds!

So what do you think of my version of Watermelon Nails? They've been a hit at work so far! :-D

Visit the It's So Easy 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!



Until 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. 

Read Across America Week: Rainbow Fish Nails

Hope you all are enjoying the new look of the blog! It took a lot of toying around with Photoshop, but I think I'm really happy with it.

For Read Across America Week (last week), I wanted to do a manicure inspired by one of my favorite books as a child: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister!

Instead of painting the actual fish, I wanted to draw inspiration from its beautiful scales. So I picked up Rimmel Marine Blue, Funky Fingers Baby Baby Baby, OPI DS Elegance, Zoya Indigo, and Sally Hansen Purple Potion... and got to work.

This was the end result and I wore it the entire weekend! It was time consuming, but relatively easy. I used a dotting tool to create a scale-like effect. I thought that using tips on four fingers and full coverage on the ring finger would add a nice accent to it. Unfortunately, it has been raining here for a week. But I managed to get the slightest hint of sunlight on Saturday.

 

And here are close up shots of the ring fingers. I blurred the last one so you could see all of the sparkly goodness in macro!

 If you want to try out the scale effect with your own polishes and color combos, please post them to the Princess Polish Facebook page! I would LOVE to see how yours turned out!

Until tomorrow!
Princess P

Shelby's Dragon Lady Nails

My roommate, Shelby, had a big date last weekend and was super in the mood for red nails. Having only lived together since the beginning of the month, she had no idea the amount of nail polish I possess and asked if my other roommates, Cynthia and Charlotte, or I had any red polish she could borrow.

So I broke out my box of polishes and watched as her eyes widened with excitement.

Having just completed my first gradient (see blue gradient manicure a few posts below), I decided to try a version of a glitter gradient.

Shelby picked out an old school burgundy Rimmel named Shocker, I grabbed my favorite China Glaze of all time, Ruby Pumps, and went to work.

The result was pretty cute and something I might try again for myself, but this time, with a darker red shade that borders on black. OPI Black Cherry Chutney, for example.



And for those of you who were wondering... the date went even better than the manicure looked.

Gradient Tutorial

I have been dying to try a gradient for as long as I can remember. So as a reward for sitting through my three hour LSAT class, I decided to sit down to watch Project Runway and break out the nail polish. And I couldn't believe how easy it turned out to be, using just nail polish and a makeup sponge.



(From left to right: China Glaze Blue Iguana, Wet and Wild Sapphire Blue, Zoya Ibiza, Rimmel Midnight Blue, and Sally Hansen Black Diamond)

Here are the five polishes that I used. You can use less, or even more if you're ambitious, but it's up to you. These shades aren't mandatory at all, go with what you have. I found that these were a nice gradient of blue and even though Blue Iguana was substantially lighter than Sapphire Blue, I think it really made the manicure pop in the end. So take that under consideration.

Also, if you're thinking about using a black with some sparkle like I did, use one that is a true black that's not grainy. Black Diamond looks okay on the tips, but being nitpicky, I didn't really love the grainy look and feel of it in the end. It doesn't blend as well as another black. You may be better off using a black satin color and then adding a hint of glitter with a top coat at the end. But it's totally up to you!

Are you ready to become a gradient pro? Well, let's get started!

1) Tape your fingers. I can't tell you how much easier this would have made my life, considering how hard it is to get blue nail polish off without staining your skin. One pieces on each side of the nail and right below would make your manicure much cleaner looking. Take my word for it.



2) Apply two coats of your lightest blue.



3) Using your second blue, swipe a line of polish across the WHOLE tip of your makeup sponge and dab it twice on a nonporous surface (in my case, a paper bowl) to prevent uneven sponging.

IMPORTANT: Wait until your base polish is only slightly sticky to the touch before you start the sponging process or you'll create goopy bumps that will ruin your hard work. I promise, the extra wait is worth it.



4) Starting at the tip of the nail and using the whole width of the sponge so it curves around your nail, lightly dab the sponge down your nail, leaving a small amount of your base color at the bottom.




If you notice that the polish did not sponge well to the sides of your nail, repeat the sponging process using the corner of the sponge on those bare areas.

5) Repeat steps 4 and 5 for as many colors as you desire, EXCEPT your last color, lessening the length of the sponged area as you go.

Here is how the sponging looked after Zoya Ibiza and Rimmel Midnight Blue:






6) For your last color, apply the polish to the sponge as your did for the others. When you dab this time, do so until you barely see any polish on the plate/bowl. This will make the color much sheerer on the nail, but will look like a more even blend. This may require more than one repeat of sponging until you get a true dark tip (in my case, black), but it will look blended instead of just a painted tip.



Don't worry that your nails look spongy, that will be solved in the next step.

7) Now, remove your tape and apply a top coat! I use Seche Vite because I find it creates the smoothest surface, especially when using grainy glitter or sponging. Plus, it's dry time cannot be beat.

Here is the end product, with a little nail art flower:



Happy sponging!