Nail Challenge Collaborative: March 2018 - Pastels

 

Hey there!  Today I have my second post for the Nail Challenge Collaborative March Pastels theme.  I went with paint drips in different pastel colors for this look and used all Zoya nail polishes. 

 

 

I started with a base of Zoya Purity.  I did two coats plus topcoat.  Then I used Zoya Blu, Stella (also known as Cole, but my bottle is labeled Stella), Neely, and Dot and What's Up Nails Dripping Stencils to create this look.  I wanted to use different shades of pastels rather than one shade, and I felt that the white base made these colors stand out more.  I finished off my look with Tonic Topper quick dry topcoat. 

 

I think this look is fun!  I've used stamping plates to do paint splatters, but haven't done the drips before.  I'm happy with how these turned out and hope you like them too. 

 

What are some pastel mani ideas that you would like to see? 

 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading!



An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative: September 2017 - Inspired by a Garment

 

Hey there!  Today I have my first post for September's Nail Challenge Collaborative Inspired by a Garment theme.  I don't love this prompt to be honest.  For some reason whenever I have this theme my mind draws a blank.  However I do love argyle anything - sweaters, socks, shirts, etc. so I decided to do argyle nails for my first look. 

 

 

I found an argyle sweater that I really love on amazon.com and used that as my inspiration.  You can see the sweater here.  I used Zoya August and Jordan as my main colors and did the lines with an L.A. Colors Art Deco white striper.  I thought this mani would like great with a matte topcoat.  I used Butter London Matte Finish as my topcoat and I love how it turned out.  I will show you what this looks like with a glossy topcoat below. 

 

Here you can see this look with a shiny topcoat.  I used Tonic Topper which is my favorite quick dry topcoat.  I rarely use matte topcoats, but do prefer this look matte compared to glossy.  What do you think?

 

This was my first time ever trying argyle nails which is odd because of how much I love argyle.  I was a big preppy in high school!  I think I will do argyle nails again in the future.  There are so many different color combos you can do!

 

Have your done any manis inspired by a garment?  What garments inspired your nail art? 

 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading!

An InLinkz Link-up

Nail Challenge Collaborative: August 2017 - Flowers

Hey there!  Today I have my second post for Nail Challenge Collaborative August Flowers theme.  I did these earlier in the month, but just haven't had time to write a post so I'm finally getting to it now.  If you follow me on Instagram @samantha1027 then you might have already seen the base I did for this look.

I wanted to do something a little different for this one so I went with a fan brush nail art base using Zoya Tobey, Wednesday and Paz.  I've been trying to participate in #fanbrushfriday on Instagram and one week the colors were bright pink, bright orange, and teal.  I thought these colors would work well as a base for flower nail art so decided to stamp over them. 

I stamped over the base with Rica Whiteout and Born Pretty Store BPL-024 plate.  This is one of my favorite plates with all of the flower designs and I love this stamp in particular with the bigger petals.  It always looks great when I use it. 

I'm really happy with how these turned out.  I like the fan brush nail art under the stamping and plan on doing more looks like this in the future.  I should have at least one more post for this month's challenge if not two so keep on the lookout for them. 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: July 2017 - Beach/Ocean

Hey there!  Today I have for you my fourth and final post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative July Beach/Ocean theme.  This look is a recreation for a look I did in July 2015 for our Travel theme yet I used different polishes.  You can see that post here. 

I started with a base of Tonic Nail Polish Deep Sea-Crets which is a beautiful turquoise crème with peachy-pink shimmer.  I am addicted to shimmer polishes lately and let me tell you this one is a beauty!  I stamped with Rica Whiteout, my go-to white stamping polish if you haven't figured that out yet, and MoYou London Sailor 06 plate to create the waves/water look.  Then I painted my tips with Zoya Bar to create the sand.  I really love how the shimmer in Deep Sea-Crets looks like the sun hitting the water.  It's a great effect that I didn't even plan for. 

This is definitely one beach that I want to go to!  I hope that you've liked all of my posts for this month's theme.  I'm excited to see what we'll be doing next month! 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading! 

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: July 2017 - Beach/Ocean

Hey there!  Today I have my third post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative July Beach/Ocean theme.  One of the scariest things about going to the ocean are the sharks so I had to shark nails for this one.  I started with a base of Zoya Cecilia.  Cecilia is a gorgeous teal crème and for this look I did two coats even though you can get away with one.  This color is very pigmented and did stain when I removed it even with basecoat. 

For the shark I found a tutorial on YouTube from Jenny Claire Fox or @missjenfabulous as most people in the nail community know her.  Her tutorial was easy to follow so I went with the simple accent nail for my shark design.  I do wish that I followed her idea of using a light blue for the nail with the shark so it stood out more because I feel it blends in too much with the teal base color.

 

I created the shark nail freehand and used Zoya Tao and Red Door Red, and Rica Whiteout and Blackout.  I used dotting tools for the eyes and a nail art brush for the teeth.  I know this look is not perfect, but it's still cute and you get the idea that it's supposed to be a shark I hope.  It worked out perfectly with this week being Shark Week on Discovery Channel as well! 

Do you watch Shark Week?  Have you done shark nail art?

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative: June 2017 - Neon

Hey there!  Today I have my third post for The Nail Challenge Collaborative June Neon theme.  I am really loving this theme if you can't already tell.  I hope to get a few more posts in before the end of the month, but I have a busy schedule so we will see!

I started with a base of one of my favorite neon pink polishes, Zoya Lola!  This color is gorgeous and a great summer color.  It is slightly sheer though so I needed to do four coats. 

I wanted to just do something simple for this mani and decided just to do some silver stamping.  I used Zoya Trixie and Born Pretty Store BPL-024 plate to create this look.  I thought the paisley design was fun, but not too overwhelming to take away from the pink. 

I'm also participating in the When Colours Collide challenge which is a bi-weekly challenge where colors are selected and you can only use those for your nail art.  This week's colors were pink and silver so the timing worked out perfectly. 

I hope you like this look.  What nail art challenges do you participate in?  Have you done any fun neon nail art?

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Top 20 Polishes of 2015

Hey there! Today I have for you my Top 20 Polishes of 2015.  I thought this would be appropriate for my first post of the year.  One of my nail polish resolutions it to blog more so let's hope I'm off to a good start! 

I selected a mix of indie and mainstream polishes.  A lot of them are from the fall because I think fall polishes this year totally rocked!  This was really hard for me to narrow down, and I'm sure I missed some.  I bought a lot more than I got to wear so there are ones that probably would have made the post had I worn them.

These are in no particular order except for the order I wore them in.  Let's jump right in!

Rica This Heart of Mine 

This Heart of Mine is a gorgeous bright red linear holo.  This polish was released in February, and some of the proceeds from the sales went to American Heart Association. It wasn't only a beautiful polish, but it helped out a good cause as well! 

Zoya Eden

 

Zoya Eden was one of the polishes in their spring Delight Collection.  I fell in love with this collection immediately so ordered all of them. I was pleasantly surprised that a pink creme was my favorite of the six polishes released. 

KBShimmer Men Are From Mars-ala 

 

Men Are From Mars-ala was KBShimmer's take on the 2015 Pantone Color of the Year.  I like that they did a holo instead of a creme like other brands were doing. This color surprised me.  I didn't think I'd love it, but once I wore it I was sold! 

Pahlish Sailing the Hispaniola 

 

When Pahlish released the Buccaneers and Buried Gold collection I knew I needed Sailing the Hispaniola.  In 2015, I really got into shades of cobalt/royal blue so this beautiful ocean blue with subtle linear holo was a must have for my collection! 

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Sirene Fatale

 

Every month Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer releases a limited edition Siren.  In March, Julie released Sirene Fatale.  This neon pink with blue shimmer was not easy to get, but I couldn't be happier I was able to snag one. This color is stunning, and it's easily my favorite polish of 2015.  

Literary Lacquers Blue Lullaby and Vurt-u-Want 

 

When the Vurt-u-Want collection from Literary Lacquer came out I knew I must have these two polishes. They looking amazing in swatches I saw and were even more impressive on. I'm counting these two as a tie cause I couldn't decide between the two of them! 

Sweet Heart Polish Summer Breeze

 

In 2015, a new box released, Addicted to Holo.  The same five makers created a holo polish, and they released this box every other month. I automatically fell in love with Summer Breeze because honestly who doesn't love a pale grey holo! 

Glam Polish Storm

 

Glam Polish releases trios based on a certain color every once in a while, and since blue had become my favorite polish in 2015 I had to get the I Got The Blues Trio. Storm was my favorite before I even bought them, and you can see why!  

 

Stardust Polish Sophie

 

I'm 2015, Stardust Polish easily became one of my favorite brands. With gorgeous polishes and excellent customer service it was easy to fall in love!  Sophie was easily one of my favorite polishes of the year.  It's a burgundy creme with intense indigo flash, and totally stunning!  

 

Zoya Charli

 

Zoya has always been my favorite mainstream brand, and actually was the brand that started my polish addiction. This is the second Zoya in my top ten with one more coming up.  When Zoya releases a collection I typically want the entire thing especially their fall collections. The Focus collection was no exception, but the one I wanted most was Charli.  It was unlike anything in my collection. This dusty taupe creme with a hint of Army green was the perfect fall color in my opinion. 

 

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Siren's Mint Smash

 

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer has been my favorite indie for a long time so it's no wonder more than one of Julie's polishes made my list. Honestly I had four more on the list, but had to narrow it down!  Siren's Mint Smash was another of the monthly limited edition Sirens.  As you may know I have always loved polishes in this color range, but this one is really special being a mint green jelly with gold/green/blue shifty glass flecks.  It's so pretty and unlike the other mint polishes I own.

 

Picture Polish Autumn

 

I remember when I used to hate orange polishes. I was so young and naive!  For some reason in the fall of 2015 I wanted every orange polish released, but when I saw Picture Polish Autumn I knew that was the one for me! It totally made me fall in love with orange polishes, and I'm sure you can see why!

 

Stardust Polish Stardust 

 

Stardust is my second polish from Stardust Polish (now Stardust Beauty LLC). When Drema released this polish I immediately fell in love. This gorgeous pale grey holo with lilac flash was easy to pick for my top polishes of 2015.  

 

Cupcake Polish Blood Hound

 

Cupcake Polish released an awesome fall collection called The Modern Vampire. I loved them all, but knew I needed Blood Hound. This burgundy holo was the perfect fall color, and easily my favorite holo of the year. 

 

Lynnderella Fall for Jammy

 

Lynnderella was a new addiction for me in 2015.  I got hooked on the eBay auctions due to how competitive I am! She has a set of polishes called Jammies which I needed all of for personal reasons. When I put on Fall for Jammy I immediately fell in love cause it totally reminded me of fall foliage and the leaves changing.  

 

Fair Maiden Polish Pretty People Taste Better

 

I hate to admit it, but I've never seen an episode of The Walking Dead.  When Fair Maiden released their Fright Knight collection the one I needed most was the one based on a show I never saw! Pretty People Taste Better is such a unique color, and was even prettier on than in the bottle. 

ILNP Mountain View

 

I was able to snag some of ILNP's Fall 2015 Collection after they released, and started wearing them right away. I loved the finish in this collection, and all of the ones I own are amazing. This collection is by far my favorite collection of 2015, and Mountain View was my surprise love. I never like dark, forest greens on me.  When I put this one on that totally changed! 

Zoya Cinnamon 

 

Cinnamon is my third pick from Zoya, and believe me it was hard to narrow it down to the three I did! Cinnamon is not a typical color for me, and I was scared I would totally hate it. That was until I put it on when I immediately fell in love.  It screams fall to me, and I'm really happy I got this one from the Flair collection. 

Pretty & Polished Frozen In Time

 

Being part of the Pretty & Polished fan group on Facebook gave me early access to her fall collection, and I couldn't have been more excited.  When I saw searches of Frozen In Time I wanted it on my nails so bad! It totally did not disappoint me when I got it.  I love a great navy polish, and a holo navy polish at that! 

Smitten Polish I Smell Snow

 

My favorite winter collection was Smitten's Christmas In Stars Hollow collection. I mean I love every polish she released in this set, and the fact it's Gilmore Girls themed just makes them that much better.  I Smell Snow is such a beautiful polish that just screams winter to me!  It sparkles so much on the nails that I couldn't stop staring at them! 

That's my Top 20 Polishes of 2015 for you.  I hope you like my selections. I know we all have different taste, and 2015 released so many beauties it really was hard to narrow it down.  Thanks for reading my blog all year! I hope you continue to in 2016!  

The Nail Challenge Collaborative - September 2015: Pets

*purchased by me*

Hey there! Today I have my third post for September's The Nail Challenge Collaborative Pets theme.  I do realize it's October, and I was totally on track, but work has been very hectic so this was my first chance to get caught up.  

One of the pets I had was a dog.  Growing up we had Misty who was a mix of Golden Retriever and white German Shepherd. She was beautiful!  This doesn't look like her, but I did want to do a dog mani in her honor. 

I used Zoya Pasha and Jacqueline as well as Rica Blackout to create this look.  For the most part I did the dog freehand, but I used dotting tools for the paw prints.  Overall I'm really happy with how this turned out!  

Did you have a dog growing up? What was his/her name?

 

Please check out the other bloggers below.  Thanks for reading!

An InLinkz Link-up

A2Z Series Week 5 - E is for Elegant

*purchased by me*

Hey there!  It's week five of the A2Z Challenge, and this week E is for Elegant.  To me elegant is a very simple and refined look which I think this manicure is. 

  

I started with two coats of Zoya Dovima and let them dry completely.
Using Nailene Perfect Tips, French tip guides, I added Zoya Raven to the tips.  

I think of black dresses and tuxedos when I think of elegance, and I would totally wear a manicure like this if I was attending a black tie affair! 

With Thanksgiving on Thursday I did rush this look a little bit and chose something very simple.  Hopefully I'll have more time next week to think of something creative.  

What do you think of this look?  What would you do for elegant nails? 

You can purchase Zoya nail polishes at www.zoya.com and don't forget to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Don't forget to check out the other bloggers participating in the challenge and remember to check back every Thursday to see all the creations.  Next week is F is for Fashion.  Leave me a comment letting me know what you'd like to see for this theme!  For the complete A2Z Archive head over to the hubpage HERE! 

Thanks for reading. 

An InLinkz Link-up

HPB Presents: My Fall Favorites!

*purchased by me*

Hey there!  For those of you that don't know I'm in a Facebook group call Hobby Polish Bloggers.  It's a fantastic group of nail polish bloggers where we can get advice and feedback on our blogs or just chat with fellow bloggers.  Each month we do a link-up, and this month's theme is fall favorites. We didn't have much direction on this just to post our favorite things about fall whether it be nail polish related, beauty products, activities, or something else.  I decided to go with a recap of my favorite fall nail polishes and beauty products.  This is the first month I'm participating in the link-up, and I'm really excited about it!  Let's jump right in!

Nail Polish

 

The Zoya Entice Collection is by far my favorite fall collection this year.  I love Zoya's cremes, and this collection did not disappoint. They were great on their own or for nail art (especially stamping!).  My favorites from the collection were Ryan, Genevieve, and Claire, but I really love all the colors!  I already did two posts on this collection with some nail art as well, and you can see them here and here! 

Cuticle Care

Last month I bought Sunny's Body Products Fall Exclusive Box from 365 Days of Color. I had been looking for some new cuticle care products, and the fact they were pumpkin/fall scents sealed the deal for me!  The cuticle oil is Autumn Harvest, the cuticle balm is Pumpkin Crunch Cake (my favorite of all the scents from the box), and the intensive cuticle therapy is Caramel Apple.  Using the cuticle oil & cuticle balm throughout the day and the intensive cuticle therapy at night has really made a difference for my cuticles. 

Hand Creams

My hands have been so dry this fall, and I have two hand creams I use throughout the day. Sunny's Hand Cream in Pumpkin Apple Butter and Sally Hansen Nail & Cuticle Hand Creme.  I keep one in my purse and one on my nightstand so I have moisturizer no matter where I go!

Lip Balm

Last but not least is actually my favorite of all my fall favorites!  It's Sunny's Lip Saver in Pumpkin Pecan.  This lip balm has been a life saver this fall. My lips are normally dry, but this keeps them hydrated and soft.  I will be so sad when I run out because this was a limited edition box, and I love this flavor! 

Well, that's all of my fall favorites!  Pumpkin is my favorite thing about fall which I think you can see!  What are some of your favorite fall beauty products?  What's your favorite thing about fall?  

Thanks for reading! 

An InLinkz Link-up