We're All Mad Here

Sunday! Long Weekend! I'm pumped-how about you guys?! I'm sharing my final NCC creation for August's theme of Tea Party and I decided to pay homage to a Disney classic, inspired by this:

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I used a ton of polishes for the Red Queen's crown, the Mad Hatter's hat, the Cheshire Cat, and one of the Blue Caterpillar's mushrooms:

Nicole by OPI-Yoga then Yogurt (base)

Julep-Dawn (yellow)

Nicole by OPI-Challenge Red-y (red)

Icing-Jen's Pick (light green)

NY & Co.-Inverness (dark green)

Sinful Colors-Dream On (neon purple)

Sally Hansen CSM-Summer Lovin' (pink)

OPI-Sorry, I'm Fizzy Today (coral)

Everything was top-coated with Beauty Plus Salon quick-dry. I'm really glad I saved this one for last. It took a lot of time and patience to freehand each one and a lot of trial and error with which brush to use to give me the cleanest lines. My freehand game is not as up to snuff as some other nail artistes that I read, but I am working to strengthen my skills. I'm definitely looking forward to more freehand in the future!

Be sure to check out how everyone else in the Collaborative closed out the month, below!

xo, ali

August NCC #3-Dressing the Part

Hey! Happy Thursday! It's been a gorgeous week, here in Buffalo, perfect for my summer wardrobe, including lots of cute dresses. Today's mani for the August Nail Challenge Collaborative Theme is inspired by a dress that I wore to work this week and I thought it was perfect for a summer tea party.

I also branched out and tried a new technique today--the dry brush, or distressed, technique, made famous by Sarah from Chalkboard Nails. You can check out her tutorial here. I just left off the swipes of black nail polish.

For this mani, I started with a base of Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt, which is one of the best whites I've tried. I topcoated with a quick dry topcoat and once it was dry, I got my colors and went to work. I started with swipes of Essie Chinchilly, a gray-toned taupe. After Chinchilly came swipes of China Glaze Dance Baby, a cool, cotton candy pink. These two were followed by China Glaze For Audrey, a light robin's egg blue (or the color of those famous little blue boxes), and China Glaze Designer Satin, a vibrant magenta. I topcoated the whole thing once more. I was surprised at how little time this took. I was able to do the look from start to finish during an episode of Full  House (the one where DJ goes to see Uncle Jesse's band play because she's dating the guitarist).

What do you guys think? I got a few compliments on this at work and one co-worker said it reminded him of candy  :)
Make sure to check out what the other ladies turned out!

August NCC #2

*some items won or gifted*

Hey! Happy Sunday. Sorry I haven't been around this week. My parents are in town and I was maid of honor in my best friend's wedding, last night. I've had the mani done and photographed but tonight, I was able to sit down and edit pictures and chat with y'all.

As you know, this month's theme is Tea Party and it can be interpreted a lot of different ways. For this mani, I took inspiration from a vintage tea cup that I found on Etsy. After all, what's a tea party without the tea cups?

We'll start with the inspiration and the colors that I used.

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I fell in love with this 1940's cup from an English tea set. Look at those little strawberries!!

I used four colors in this mani:

I used Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt, Gridlock Lacquer Bucket List (Niagara Falls Collection), Avon Garden Green, and Color Club Mamba

I already had my nails painted with three coats of Gridlock Lacquer Bucket List from the Niagara Falls collection that was released this summer. It's a pretty, pale, yellow-toned gold shimmer. Next time, I might layer it over a pale creme to save on the polish.

I stamped with Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt, that I won from stuff I (s)watched's 3rd blogiversary giveaway (Thanks, Rach!). I used an image from Bundle Monster Create Your Own set-plate number BM-406. Once that was dry, I used Color Club Mamba and Avon Garden Green to freehand strawberries. Here's the finished product:

I'm way behind this month but thing's should be quieting down so I can get the last two mani's in before September creeps up. 

Be sure to check out what the other ladies did, below!

xo, ali

Tea for Two

Hello! It's me! The phantom blogger. I'm back with another installment of the Nail Challenge Collaborative. August's theme is Tea Party. I don't know about you but I didn't really play tea party that much as a kid. If you can believe it, I was a tomboy in my formative years. I loved hitting the ball with my dad, riding bikes, and swimming. Tea parties and Barbies were more of my younger sister's bag. However, once I grew up and started getting interested in boys, all that changed. And this theme definitely let me experience tea parties.

For my first mani, this month, I pulled inspiration from my "NCC Inspo" board on Pinterest (you can follow me here). The first picture that jumped out at me was this:

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Check out how I interpreted it in my skittlette:

For this mani, I really pulled inspiration from the tablecloth. After painting my base color of three coats of Pixi Luminous Lilac, a shimmery, pale, pink-toned lavender, I topcoated with a quick-drying topcoat and then pulled out my Bundle Monster Create Your Own stamping plates and chose BM-404 for my index and middle fingers. For my ring finger, I figured that ladies who had afternoon tea also kept songbirds so I used an image from BM-407. Everything was stamped with Color Club Pucci-Licious. For a little bling, because these ladies always wear their finest jewels, I used Sinful Colors Full Spectrum, a GORGEOUS, clear-based holographic microglitter with pale pink hexes.

Check out the macro shots:

I have been tossing around so many ideas for this theme and I definitely will be paying tribute to the craziest tea party of all-time ;)

Hopefully once the next couple weeks are over, I'll be able to get some swatches and more nail art up for you guys. I just received my package from Rach over at stuff i (s)watched for winning her 3rd blogiversary giveway. A package of six gorgeous polishes and the first season of Friday Night Lights. I was a happy girl!

Be sure to stop by the other parties, below!

until next time-ali