Watercolor Nails

So, totally inspired by Sarah of Chalkboard Nails, I decided to try my hand at watercolor nails. Hers looked amazing! I had enough similar colors, so last night I decided to give it a whirl.
I had just pulled out OPI's Skull & Glossbones, I had thought about trying a sponge with it - but when I read she used that as a base, I thought it was perfect.
In addition to that, for the dots of color, I used Color Club Raspberry Rush, Maybelline Express Finish Sunshine, Sinful Colors Fly Away, Envy, and Amethyst. I would like to try this again with other colors, it was fun! I think my pinkie and ring turned out a tiny bit muddy but overall I'm really happy with it.

So, what do you guys think? They're pretty easy, if you just follow Sarah's instructions - I'd like to see it if anyone else does these!

Nail Art: Deconstructed

This look is actually inspired by a tutorial from Sokolum's blog, which is Emma Watson inspired nails. I loved this look so much I knew I wanted to try it. I am just calling this simply deconstructed - because the way I accomplished it was to just kind of smear my base color and wipe it off. I did this pretty messily, because I liked the extra bits of base color left behind. It vaguely reminds me of tie die.
A couple of tips if you try this: First, work quickly. Sokolum mentions this in the video, and it's very key. You are rubbing off the middle of your base color, so you don't want to wait too long. As a matter of fact, the best thing to do is to do this one nail at a time. She also mentions in the video that if you use a cotton pad, you could leave behind fibers. I totally agree with this, I just folded up some paper towels on my work are and used that to get rid of the paint smears on my fingers. You definitely want to pick out coordinating colors, with a strong color as your base color. I tried this with a jelly creme for the top color, and it just doesn't work - you will need a good straight up jelly.
I used Sinful Colors Amethyst for my base color, and for the jelly top color I used Revlon Just Tinted Victorian.

If you have any questions about this just drop them in the comment box - it's really a simple and fun look, even for someone who is ignorant about nail art like me! Haha, seriously. Sokolum's video was perfect, so be sure to have a look at that as well. I want to try this with other color combinations.

Nail Art: Blood Drippings

This is sort of a fail, but I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway! I have been wanting to try doing my own "dripping nails" nail art forever, but you guys know that I'm ... exceptionally untalented when it comes to nail art. I can't even stamp!
So I painted my nails a basic black - Sinful Colors Black On Black. I used China Glaze Hey Sailor for the drippings.
If you try this, don't be like me: wait until your nails and drippings are completely dry before you apply top coat! I didn't, and I definitely got some smearings.

I would DEFINITELY try this again. It's been requested that the next time, I do a tutorial, so I'll give it a whirl! I don't think it's horrible for a first attempt. What do you think, have you tried these and mastered them? What colors did you use? This would be cute with a pastel theme too.
And, I'm done spamming you for the night. True Blood is on in one hour here!

Nail Art: Neon Splatter

Okay, so a few days ago Jen at The PolishAholic posted a super cute neon splatter mani and tutorial. As soon as I snagged some straws I had to give this a try!
I used four polishes plus my base for this one. As a base, I used Revlon's Matte Suede shade, Powder Puff. It's a white with a hint of purple duochrome and it's super squishy! I should swatch this alone for the blog. The four shades I used for my splatters were China Glaze Sun Worshipper and Flip Flop Fantasy, and Sinful Colors Irish Green and Dream On. I think this could be cute for a spring/Easter type mani, as well as Jen's awesome blood spatter one.
One thing I want to say, do NOT use styrofoam plates for your polish drops. Eats right through, hahaha! I only had styrofoam on hand when I started, and I had to quit. What a mess. (You guys probably already realized this, but me - I can be a dingbat sometimes.) You'll see, too, that my poor Powder Puff has spatters of Dream On on the bottle! This got everywhere before I started to get the hang of it.

And a rare picture of my thumb - it's always kind of awkward to photograph with the rest of my nails. My thumb and ring finger were my two favorites in this one. I LOVE how squishy and neon and eighties this is. Where's my neon pink ripped off the shoulder shirt? My plastic bangles and earrings??

Nail Art: Polka Dot FAIL.

This is Orly Ancient Jade and NYC Lemon Cream - and I love the color scheme of this SOOO freaking much. But as you can see, I have by no means perfected my dotting skills. I'm working on it though. You can see some of my blobs, and then my dots are uneven - but this is such a cute idea for an Easter/spring mani! I definitely want to try again.

Too bad I am le suck at nail art. I have so many ideas. I did finally do my lace nails, I'll be posting those soon.

Essie Chinchilly and Newspaper Manicure

I've had Essie Chinchilly for quite a while now, it's an awesome grey/taupe (greige) that's a squishy jelly creme. Cooler than their Playa Del Platinum, and just as awesome. I thought it would make a great base for a newspaper mani - something I've been meaning to try out for a long time but before, with all my requirements I didn't have time to play with stuff like this.

Confession: I LOVE a good nude. I'm all about bright and obnoxious colors, but sometimes I crave nudes.

Anyway, this is three coats, I probably could have gotten away with two. Ignore the squish on the pinky finger, all my fault and I didn't fix it because I knew I'd be covering it up with newsprint.

And that's the result of my newsprint nail art. I used rubbing alcohol, and it does make it a tad blurrier, but I've no objection to that. I need to be able to squish the paper onto my whole nail, so I think wetting the paper is better than wetting my nail. Even though the middle finger is a flub - I had only half a nail covered with print so I tried to squish some on top - I kind of like how it looks. This is fun, and easy. Mind you I am LE SUCK at nail art - I think the next time will be just fine, considering this as a practice run. And I love it! It is easy, something klutzy me can handle, and it's so neat looking. I wouldn't mind finding some prints in books to try to transfer as well. Have any of you tried this?