Halloween Manicures

*purchased by me*

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you're all getting more treats than tricks! This year I did a bunch of Halloween manicures that I want to share with you. 

Vampire Nails

I got this idea from Zoya, and absolutely love it. I used a base of Zoya Sooki than did the gradient with Sooki, Claire, and Raven.  I finished it off with KBShimmer Clearly On Top.  I am so happy with how this turned out! It's the best gradient I've done, and it's my favorite of my Halloween manis!

Blood Splatter Nails

For this blood splatter mani I used a base of Rica Whiteout and then with a straw I blew the blood splatters onto my nails using Zoya Riley.  I had seen this technique used before and had always wanted to try it. It's messy, but I loved how they turned out. 

Ghost Nails

For my ghost nails I used Rica Whiteout, Essie Licorice, Sinful Colors Citrine, and Zoya Purity. The ghost was done freehand with nail art brushes, and the dots/eyes were done with dotting tools. 

Frankenstein Nails

I saw a manicure like this that @mybelovednails did on Instagram, and thought it was a great idea for Halloween nails. I loved the Frankenstein's monster nails with a bride of Frankenstein accent and wanted to recreate it. I used Zoya Mitzi, Dovima & Purity and finished with Butter London Matte Finish topcoat. 

Friday the 13th Nails

Friday the 13th was my favorite horror series growing up so I knew I wanted to do a manicure in its honor.  I decided to do blood drips with a Jason Vorhees accent nail. I know my blood drips need some practice, but I love how Jason tuned out. I used Rica Whiteout, Zoya Sooki, and Essie Licorice to achieve this look. 

Candy Corn Nails

I wanted to do something different for my candy corn nails so I decided to do a gradient using Rica Whiteout, Zoya Pippa and Sinful Colors Citrine. Obviously I had some issues cause the white tops of the candy corn didn't show up in the gradient. For my accent nail I hand painted little candy corns over a base of Zoya Raven. I'm not a fan of candy corns, but I thought the were the perfect Halloween candy to use for a mani idea. 

Jack-o-Lantern Nails

I saw these Jack-o-Lantern nail decals from Lacquer by Lissa and knew I had to have them! I started with a base of Rica The Great Pumpkin, painted on black dots using Essie Licorice, and when the dots were dry I placed the decals on using tweezers. I really love these decals & the polish is absolutely gorgeous, but I think next time I use these decals they'll be over another base. 

Mummy Nail

Finally, I have my mummy nail for you. I wanted to do an entire manicure with mummies, but the only nail I was happy with was my thumb. He was just too cute not to share with you though. I used OPI Skull & Glossbones, Essie Licorice, and Zoya Purity to create this freehand mummy! 

I had a lot of fun doing all these different Halloween manicures. Have you done any Halloween inspired nail art? What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

Thanks for reading!

A to Z Series Week 1 - A is for Angles

*purchased by me*

Hey there! I'm participating in a weekly nail art challenge, The A to Z Series. Other bloggers are participating as well, and you can see their manicures at the end of the post. Each week will have a theme based on a letter of the alphabet.  This is the first week, and the theme is Angles. 

I had done a manicure like this during the 31 day nail art challenge and loved it so decided to do this again, but with different colors. I used Essie Sand Tropez, Check-Up, and Partner In Crime plus topcoat. 

I started with a base of Sand Tropez and used Nail Vinyls to paint on Check-Up and then Partner In Crime.  I love this color combo! What colors would you use for a manicure like this? 

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 B for Bold!  For the complete A2Z Archive head over to the hubpage HERE! 

Thanks for reading! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Rica The Great Pumpkin/Lacquer by Lissa Jack-o'-lantern Nail Decals

*purchased by me*

Hey there! Today I have for you the gorgeous Rica The Great Pumpkin! This polish was part of Rica's Halloween Trio 2014 collection and was only available for a limited time. 

The Great Pumpkin is described as an orange creme with a rainbow holographic finish. This is three coats with Glossy Glam topcoat. 

I decided to add some orange Jack-o'-lantern nail decals from Lacquer by Lissa to make this even more of a Halloween look. I used a dotting tool to put black spots down in Essie Licorice and waited for them to dry. Then I put the nail decals on and sealed it with topcoat. 

Rica The Great Pumpkin is a boo-tiful color!! Unfortunately it's no longer available, but the other two from her Halloween Trio 2014 collection are still in her Etsy shop.  Don't forget to follow Rica on Facebook and Instagram. 

Nail decals from Lacquer by Lissa are available in her Etsy shop.  Please follow her Facebook and Instagram as well. 

What fun Halloween polishes have you bought this year? Have you done any Halloween nail art? I'll have a post soon showing some different nail art I've done this year for Halloween. 

Thanks for reading! 

Pretty & Polished Caramel Apple Pie

*purchased by me*

Hey there! Fall is my favorite time of year not only because my birthday is in October, but I love the weather & everything pumpkin! I also love the indie fall nail polish collections. Today I have for you Pretty & Polished Caramel Apple Pie.

  

Caramel Apple Pie is a thermal polish which is described as a light creamy golden beige with golden flecks that transforms into a soft red shade in cold temperatures.  For this manicure I used three coats with topcoat. 

Pretty & Polished was the first indie brand I purchased back in February 2012 so they have a special place in my heart. When I saw swatches of the fall collection I knew I had to have Caramel Apple Pie. 

Pretty & Polished are known for their great thermal polishes. I honestly had a really hard time getting this one to shift. I had to hold my hand in a cup of ice water and quickly take pictures to show the change. That's why the lighting isn't great in these pics. 

I was able to get a slight shift holding my hand in front of an air conditioner, but it quickly went back to the warm beige color.  Luckily I think the color is really pretty in the warm state so it was okay that it didn't shift a lot although I would have liked it to a bit more. 

Pretty & Polished can be purchased in their shop.  Don't forget to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Did you get any of the Pretty & Polished fall colors? Which is your favorite? 

Thanks for reading!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer LE Sunburned Siren

*purchased by me*

Hey there! Today I have for you a limited edition Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer called Sunburned Siren.  Each month Julie releases a new polish in the Siren Series, and this was the one for September. I got number 18 of 29. 

Sunburned Siren is a bright orangey-coral polish with rose-gold microflakies and a touch of holographic shimmer. I used three coats for these photos with topcoat. 

I'm so in love with this polish! Julie knocked it out of the park with this one!  The next polish in the Siren Series, Siren Noir will be available in the BEGL shop on October 26th, at 3:30pm.  

Don't forget to follow Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  

Thanks for reading! 

Stardust Polish - To Gnome Me Is To Love Me

*purchased by me*

Hey there! Today I have Stardust Polish To Gnome Me Is To Love Me for you. This polish was part of the September G.N.O.M.E. Box. If you aren't familiar with the G.N.O.M.E. Box it's a monthly subscription box from Stardust Polish and Rica. It stands for Glitter Nerds of Magical Existence.  There are a limited number of boxes each month, and I was lucky to grab one.  

To Gnome Me Is To Love Me is described as a Merlot colored linear holographic polish. I liked that the holo isn't over the top, but more subtle in this polish. The Merlot color is just so striking that it needs to be the focus.  This is two coats and topcoat. 

I added a lace accent nail with Zoya Kennedy for some nail art.  I love this color combination. They're perfect for fall! 

What do you think of this polish? Stardust is a new brand to me, but I can't wait to order more.  They are sold in the Stardust Polish shop and on Etsy.  

Please follow Stardust Polish on Facebook and Instagram. 

Thanks for reading! 

Mentality It's A Baby! Palette

*press sample*

Hey there! Today I'm so excited to have the Mentality It's A Baby! Palette for you. Mentality is one of my favorite indie brands, and I was really happy when they told me they were sending me some polishes to review.  When I opened the box and saw not only their Featured Palette, but a bottle of Fast-Dry as well I was so excited. 

There are three pictures for each color (sun, shade, and indoors) as well as some fun nail art I did with all four colors.

Peek-a-Boo

Sunlight 

Shade

Indoors/Artificial Lighting

Peek-a-Boo is described as a pink tinted jelly creme.  This is my favorite color of the collection!  I used one coat of Nailtiques Formula 2 for my base, three coats of Peek-a-Boo, and one coat of Fast-Dry topcoat. 

Hopscotch

Sunlight

Shade

Indoors/Artificial Lighting

Hopscotch is described as a light blue tinted jelly creme.  Mine did not come with a label, but I knew what color it was because it was part of their featured palette.  I used one coat of Nailtiques Formula 2 for my base, three coats of Hopscotch, and one coat of Fast-Dry topcoat. 

Bearing

Sunlight

Shade

Indoors/Artificial Lighting

Bearing is described as a deep green toned jelly creme.  I used one coat Nailtiques Formula 2, three coats Bearing, and one coat of Fast-Dry topcoat. 

Delivery

Sunlight 

Shade

Indoors/Artificial Lighting

Delivery is described as a deep blue toned jelly creme. I used one coat Nailtiques Formula 2, three coats Delivery, and one coat of Fast-Dry topcoat.  I had some staining with this polish, but it wasn't horrible.

The formula on these polishes was a little tricky due to brush strokes. I used three coats of each polish to even them out. I really like how each polish looked like a different color in different lighting. Peek-a-Boo was my favorite color in this palette, but they're all really pretty. 

I wanted to do some nail art using all four colors. I did a dotticure with Delivery as the base color. There is one coat of Fast-Dry topcoat in this picture. 

I thought these polishes would look cool with a matte topcoat, and I was right. I used Butter London Matte Finish in this picture. 

Fast-Dry

I love fast dry topcoats so was excited to get Fast-Dry with the It's A Baby! Palette. I used one coat over my manis.  I had some issues with it not drying on me. I know fast drying topcoats work differently based on body chemistry, and this one unfortunately did not work for me. After an hour my manicure still felt tacky, and in the morning I woke up with sheet marks, dents, and fingerprints all over my nails.  The good thing is that I did not have any shrinkage though which is something I look for with my topcoat.  The formula was a lot thinner than other fast dry topcoats I've used so maybe that had something to do with it. The shine was great though. 

Overall, I really like the It's A Baby! Palette. The colors are really pretty and great for all seasons.  

The It's A Baby! Palette is available at mentalitynailpolish.com and retails for $20.00 it is available for a limited time so get one while you can! 4 polishes for $20.00 is a great deal, and you can't go wrong with Mentality nail polishes. 

Fast-Dry topcoat is also available in the Mentality shop and retails for $4.00. 

Make sure you follow Mentality on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   

Thanks for reading!