Parks and Recreation Sunflower Painting Nail Art

Tonight is the final episode of Parks and Recreation, a show I started watching two years ago and fell in LOVE with. In honor of the series finale, I am following the trend set by Emily over at The Lacquerologist and showing my love for Ben, Leslie, and the rest of the Parks and Rec crew with my nail art!

One of my hands down favorite episodes is actually a two-partner in which Ben and Leslie get married. The final shot of them after they actually tie the knot is them in front of their favorite painting in the building:

So I tried to do a little take on sunflowers of my own, incorporating the golden tones, as well as the purplish flowers that pepper the painting, as well.

I used acrylic paints for this flowers in yellow, peach, and orange, as well as purple. The base is Colors by Llarowe Beam Me Up Scotty.

If you're a Parks and Rec fan, are you as devastated by the end of the series as I am?

Game of Thrones Pink Dragon Scale Nail Art

Good evening, everyone! I know today's post is a little bit late, but I wanted it to coincide with the Season 3 premiere of Game of Thrones.

I wanted to do something a little different than the house logos, so I decided to tackle dragon scales in honor of Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons!

Also, I wanted to do something a little different than the average green/gold scales of most fictional dragons. So I went for pink!

Disney Princess Nail Fail

Big surprise... no nail blogger or nail artist is perfect. We all have ideas that seem awesome on paper, but never pan out in reality.

Well, here's one of them...

I was inspired by Chelsea of The Nail Network's Ariel manicure, specifically the use of Ariel's skin tone and distinct hairstyle on the thumb. I thought it'd be cool to use all ten of the official Disney princesses, one for every finger, in a similar manner.

For the record, Disney counts the big six of Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Jasmine, newcomer Tiana, as well as Mulan, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel in this club.

Ariel turned out so well! I used a variety of Art Club nail art paints over Zoya Audrey.

In light of this, I had SUCH high hopes...

All I can say is FREAKING BLONDE PRINCESSES! I must have tried to do Cinderella six different times, Sleeping Beauty four times, and Rapunzel twice (she was last). And after that, I gave up.

Each one of them has such structured hair that I couldn't, for the life of me, fit them onto my nail and make them look right.

So, in the end, I went with the Minnie Mouse Nails I posted yesterday. I love them, I do. But one day, I will figure out how to paint the trio of blondes on my nails. 

Until tomorrow!

Zoya Disney Nails

Good afternoon from sunny Orlando, Florida! I am currently typing this post from my spot in line on Test Track at Epcot! It's a two hour wait, so why not do something productive?

I did two manicures in honor of my trip to Disney, but only decided to wear one. You'll see why with tomorrow's.

For today's nail art, I used all Zoya polishes: Elisa, Trixie, Purity, Raven, and Audrey!

I wanted to do something classy because I have a Passover Seder to attend this week, but something also funky that screams Minnie Mouse!

So what do you think of my Minnie Mouse tips?

Maroon 5 Sequin Nails

Happy Saturday, everyone! Thank goodness it's the weekend, right?

Tonight, I'm heading to see Maroon 5 in concert for the 56th time and of course, needed to rock some awesome nails. I've actually be wearing these since Thursday because they doubled as Valentine's Day Nails. The lead guitarist's name is James VALENTINE, so they were twice as appropriate for this reason.

For those of you following me on Facebook, you may have read about my disappointing incident regarding Macy's Herald Square and the Adam Levine appearance to celebrate the launch of his 222 Fragrance. To put it simply, I was given bad information when I called the store after the appearance was announced, relied on it, and was unable to get a pass as a result. And, considering I had spent 2+ hours on these nails, plus got up extra early and traveled into NYC on a non-school day, I was more than a little upset.

But the good news is I'll still be heading into Madison Square Garden tonight to see the band play, along with Neon Trees. I'm disregarding the fact that I'll have to suffer through Owlcity for the fifth time. Oh, they are AWFUL live. Rule of thumb: If you need a wind machine and you're a solo artist, there's a problem.

Anyway, this was my second attempt at a sequin manicure. I used hexagonal glitter I bought at Michael's for $10 with a coupon. The set has twelve different colors, but I only used the red, black, and silver.

I painted on coat of Rimmel Black Satin on each nail (two coats on the ring finger). Then I applied top coat in small sections of each nail as I went to make sure it didn't dry before I could stick on a sequin. I trimmed down some pieces of glitter to fit them to the tip and applied a coat of Seche Vite to the whole nail as soon as I stuck on the last piece. Doing the Maroon 5 logo on the ring fingers was the easiest part!

In order to pick up the sequins, I let a drop of top coat on a paper plate dry until it was tacky, pressed the tiniest dotting end I had against it, and used that to pick up/place sequins. Oh, it was a pain!

In the end, I was really happy with how it came out. It was tedious as heck to alternate the red, black, and silver like I did. It needed about four coats of Seche Vite in order to smooth it out to the point where it wasn't snagging on everything I own. Consequently, I had a bit of an issue with bubbles in the top coat, but it isn't noticeable outside of macro shot.

I love how crazy sparkly this is. And the colors are that vivid in real life. It's starting to fade a little now because the top coat seems to eat away at the seal on the sequins, so this won't last much longer than a few days.

I can't imagine doing two full hands again, unless I was guaranteed the chance to meet Adam down the road. But I could easily see myself using this technique for an accent nail!

How about you all? Would you attempt this yourself? Did this manicure "rock" your world?

I promise I'll share some pics on here tomorrow. Be sure to follow my Instagram for all of the photos I take at the concert tonight!

Holiday Presents

Oh, hello again all of my lovelies! I have missed you so much!

Prior to Thanksgiving break, my professors at law school saddled us with enough assignments to bury me in my textbooks for two weeks. I have finally come out of case book hibernation and am so happy to be reunited with you all. The Halloween Hangover prizes are all on their way and things are getting back to normal!

Today, Princess Polish is getting in the holiday spirit with nails I rocked on Black Friday! I went back to the toy store I worked at for a little under two years (as my second job, Mets-aside) to help out on the super busy day. I am very well known for my crazy nail art amongst the customer base, so I HAD to go a little overboard for the day. And both Christmas and Chanukah are represented.

I went back into my It's So Easy drawer filled with their awesome products for nail art and pulled out their white Stripe Rite paint and rhinestones to create this simple and easy design.

 

Here are the Chanukah presents, represented by the blue and silver colors. I used Zoya Song (which is my new go-to blue) and Essie No Place Like Chrome. It took a little extra dexterity for the bows because I'm right-handed and this is my right hand. 

If you can't do the loops, this will still look very pretty using the straight lines to make a t and the rhinestone at the center.

And here are the Christmas presents! I used Sally Hansen Insta Dry in Emerald Express and Zoya Elisa to get a nice metallic glow. For some reason, the "ribbon" on the ring finger yellowed after I put on my top coat, but it worked alright with the color scheme. I apologize for the raggedness of the middle finger near the cuticle... I got into a fight with a door. Though I win, this was the sacrifice!

So what do you think of this mani? If you try out this technique, be sure to let me know!
Princess Polish

Nail Art Olympics Winners!

Good evening, all! I'm excited to announce the winners of the Nail Art Olympics!

All of the entries were fantastic and it was really hard to choose. But at the end of the day, I did have to pick my top 3 and I somehow managed to.

Are you ready to see who won?

Here we go!

Swatch and Review: It's So Easy Saturday - Atlantic City Nails

Happy Saturday! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

As many of you know from the Princess Polish Facebook page, I spent a few days on vacation in Atlantic City for my sister's Nationals dance competition.

And considering the fact that it was my first time in Atlantic City since I turned 21 in April 2011, I had to rock something cool on my nails to bring me luck.

So I broke out HITS Mari Moon Trendy, my Stripe Rite in red and black, along with my striping brush/dotting tool, and went to work!

And here was the end result! I incorporated the card suits of hearts and clubs, along with poker chips, and a blackjack hand! I went with an Ace and a ten because that would be easier to draw than any face cards!

Unfortunately, I didn't do very well in Atlantic City as far as gambling went... BUT I did come home with five new pairs of shoes, a new pair of pants, new headphones, and new glasses! And that was money better spent than the $30 I lost at the slots.

Still, I can't wait to head back to AC with my friends later in the summer for hopefully some better luck in the casino.

See you all tomorrow!
Princess Polish

Swatch and Review: It's So Easy Saturday - Hypnotic Swirls

Hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday!

Here's another installment of It's So Easy Saturday. Last week's theme was Miami Stripes and this week is Hypnotic Swirls!

I used the neon Stripe Rite colors to make curves that remind me of op art.

I definitely LOVED the fact that I could make curves with the brushes relatively easier than I thought. These would be really easy to use for french tips, in my opinion.

I thought this was bright and summery and loved wearing it to work! I got tons of compliments.

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!

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

101 Dalmatians Theme Nails

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful start to your weekend!

Today is Rutgers Day at my university, a huge open house on all four campuses in which school organizations run various tables and events. There's music, food, and a lot of fun to be had.

I live on Cook Campus, the agricultural campus complete with a farm and greenhouse. It is also where we live with our puppies that are being trained as Seeing Eye dogs. Some of you may remember Pebbles, who came to live with my family and I this past Valentine's Day. For those of you who are new, here is what the seven week old, 7.2 pound Pebbles, a female black Labrador retriever, looked like on the day she arrived:

 

And here is Pebbles today:

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPER PEBBLES! Pebbles turned four months old yesterday and weighed in at 22.5 lbs. She's still petite and small, but she has a really big personality!

So where does the 101 Dalmatians nail art come into play? Well, as the treasurer of the Rutgers Seeing Eye Puppy Club, Rutgers Day has been my event to run for the last two years. Because I'm graduating in two weeks, this will be my last event as a Rutgers undergraduate student. So instead of using our club colors (green and white) and simple paw prints, I wanted to do something really different.

And after checking out a Disney nail art contest (woo Amber!) for some inspiration that's how the 101 Dalmatians Manicure was born!

I used nail art polishes in red, gray, black, and white, as well as Revlon Gold Coin for the details and Sally Hansen Cherry Red, Sally Hansen White On, and NYC Water Street Blues for the base colors.

Here's a shot in which you can see the thumb in better focus. I used Dazzle Dry top coat, which I am currently obsessed with at the moment, and it tried very quickly. (Review of DD coming soon!)

This mani was a HIT at work today, so I'm very excited to see how all of the kids react tomorrow at Rutgers Day.

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Princess Polish (and Pebbles... and Dakota too!)

New York Sports Water Marble

It was a weekend full of water marbles for Princess Polish, having rocked the Relay for Life Water Marble Friday and Saturday and a new water marble Sunday and Monday.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of sports. I love it all. But my two biggest loves in life are the NY Knicks and the NY Mets, the latter of which I am fortunate enough to call my employer. So with the Knicks clinging tightly to a spot in the playoffs and the Mets off to the best April start since I was in high school, I thought it was time to break out the blue and orange.

Selecting the actual polishes to work with was much harder than you would think it'd be. The shades used by both teams are very similar and vivid. So I couldn't choose something too pastel in the orange family and it was difficult to find a blue that wasn't too light or too dark on the spectrum.

The orange was easier to select, since I only have a handful in my orange polish drawer. But the blue... well, it's the heaviest of the drawers. That should pretty much spell it out for you.

In the end, I went with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It and Essence Wake Up (more on that shade a little later in the week).

I found out that blue and orange are hard colors to marble together because if you're not careful, they'll blend together to look brown. But I figured that out only one nail in and was super careful after that.

This is my right hand all marbled up. Unfortunately, I thought my left hand came out nicer, but managed to crack a nail shortly before I was ready to take a picture. The whole hand looks like my middle finger. So you're stuck with my right for now. Sorry, everyone. This was (Daniel?) Murphy's law at its best. (Mets fans will get that joke)

Now here is the ultimate problem: REMOVAL.

Essence Wake Up applied like butter and came off as easily as it should have. Sally Hansen Blue it made me want to cry. It stained my cuticles to the point I had to take a shower, use cuticle remover, and then soak my hands in warm water. And that was before I even tried to take the polish off. (Confession: I got a manicure so the nail tech had to do that for me. Bless her heart.)

While I love my Mets (Oh hey, David Wright!) and my Knicks (Oh, welcome to the party, old Carmelo Anthony. So nice of you to join us with 15 games left in the entire season.), I don't think I would ever do this again. It was too much of a headache to remove and clean up. I'll just stick to my good, old-fashioned Metsicure.

Although, if the Mets make it to the World Series, I'll double barrier with tape and Vaseline. May this be my problem come October.

Until tomorrow!
Princess Polish

New Years Contest

While I'm off sailing the seven seas (okay, maybe just one), I thought it would be a fun idea to run a little contest. One winner will receive a very appropriate prize: a mini set of the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection.

All you have to do is create your best New Years-themed manicure! To enter, you can email me a picture of your nails at PrincessPolishBlog@gmail.com.

Here are the rules:

1) Only one entry per person.

2) This contest ends at 11:59pm EST on December 31st.

3) This contest is open to residents of the US only.

4) All winners must be 18+.

Good luck!

- Princess Polish

Mets-icure!!!

As many of you know, I'm a huge sports fan. My favorite of all is baseball and I've been in love with the New York Mets since I was eight years old. Knowing I was going to be at the ballpark this weekend, I decided it was time for a game-friendly manicure.

Since the Mets' official colors are blue and orange, I thought a funky french would be appropriate and easy enough. Well, especially after five attempts at water marbling ended in disaster and a near-disastrous spill on my desk.

I used Art Club nail art polish in blue and orange, with silver glitter from Kiss for the center of the flowers.