Multiglitter French

This is a french tip I did that I wanted to dress up a bit and do something different. So I took a bunch of similar glitters and layered them all over top!

Here's the first one, a polish from Ardene called Blue Blizzard.

Next is NYC Starry Night.

And also from Ardene, Confetti.

Lastly, the coveted Essie Shine of the Times.

This was worth wearing despite the nightmare it was to take off. I just love glittery nails! What do you guys think? Too much, just right, or would you add even more glitter? Maybe I'll try a colored french tip next time instead of white...hmm...

Matte Metallic

This was a fun manicure, and very easy, especially for those who aren't good at tape manis (me) this design was free-handed.

It's basic - paint your first color, in this case a metallic blue. Then, swipe your second color diagonally across your nail.

Afterwards I added a layer of fine silver glitter.

Just for fun, I put on a matte topcoat to see what it would look like but I think the shiny version is my favorite, which do you guys like better?

Purple V Tips

This was a fun, but simple design that's almost a quick, plain manicure with a bit of style.

First, paint your base color on all nails except your accent nails (I chose thumb and ring fingers).

Make a V shape with the base color on those accent nails, and then add a shorter V with a contrasting or complimentary color.

 
And here's the finished manicure!

Brown and Gold

This is gonna be a short post; I was just experimenting with this new brown polish I got, and this combo ended up being one of my faves. It's called Cafe Au Lait by Nyx and the gold flecks is Essie As Gold as it Gets

Here is Cafe by itself.

Close up.

Green Ruffian Manicure

I have another ruffian for you guys today, these are so easy to do and a little more nail art-y than just a plain color, I love ruffians! Anyways, this one is with a medium and dark green (that looks black most of the time, but it is green).

This is the base color, first coat. This is Flat Iron Green by NYC

The second color is Sew Psyched by Essie.

Sorry about the lighting in  these; it was late at night so I had my lamp on for extra light, but it ended up being too much! lol Below is 3 or 4 coats (I forget haha) of Flat Iron Green.

And then the ruffian.

I so should've added a matte top coat to this, but I didn't. Maybe I'll have to recreate this manicure just to see what it looks like mattified!

Pink Crackle French Tip

This manicure I had a lot of fun with; I'm loving the look of a colored french tip with crackle over top of just the tip. In this case, the base color is all-over and only the crackle makes the sideways french tip.

Supplies I used:

-Essie, Sand Tropez
-Cherimoya 2012 Crackle, ?
-Art Deco, black
-Art Deco, pink glitter

I separated the crackle from the rest of the base color with a black line and added a pink glitter to the line.

The pictures are kinda blurry, I know...

My fingers look really wonky in this picture lol

My Wedding Nails

As some of you might know, I got married recently (May 19th) and here is the manicure I did for my wedding day! I've been so busy that I couldn't get this written & posted til today lol

Here's the polish I used:

-Billie, Mauve (a matte purple)
-Essie Luxeffects Topcoat, Pure Pearlfection
-white butterfly nail art sticker

I won't explain any steps because it's kinda straightforward. I know it's very simple, but I like simple statements. And for the biggest day of my life, I wanted something I knew would look good, I wasn't about to experiment with some lace design or whatever the night before (yes I didn't do my nails til the night before!). Here's some more pictures:

My wedding colors were purple, white and brown :) Tell me in the comments what you might wear on your nails for your big day!

2 New YouTube Videos Up!

I haven't done posts on this blog for my 2 recent video tutorials I posted on YouTube, so that's what this post will be about.

The first is a green manicure with vertical cut between two colors. You can watch this Green Split manicure video on my YouTube channel, artistrynails.

The second video is a sponging tutorial with a stamp over top. You can watch this White and Green Sponge Gradient with Dots video on my YouTube channel as well.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Nude/Gold Gradient

This manicure is my best result of sponging. I'm not that great at it, and I think this design turned out pretty well.

I used an unnamed nude by Muse for the base, then Billie's gold for the sponging and topped it off with Essie's Pure Pearlfection from the Luxeffects collex.

What do you guys think of sponging? I love the look but I need a lot more practice lol

Purple Flakie & Gems

This manicure was really in a few different parts, I wore it one way for a few days, added to it, wore that for a few days, added to it again and wore that for a few days before taking it all off. This first photo is of the end result.

These are the two polishes I used:

The first part was just wearing the matte purple.

Then, I put a coat of Shine of the Times over it.

And applied a matte topcoat to keep the original look of the purple.

That's when I added the jewels, and sealed them on with more matte topcoat.

Rainbow Crackle

I'm getting married tomorrow!!! But here's a quick post anyways.

I did this to fool around with all the crackles I have (I don't remember why I left my left pinky bare lol)

These are a bunch of photos of this manicure. I did a lighter or darker shade of the same color underneath the crackle on every finger, with 2 different Essie topcoats over them.