Wallpaper-Luxe & Distressed

Happy Saturday! I have another wallpaper-inspired, stamped manicure for you today!

Today, my inspiration comes from my imagination-a beautiful mansion, left vacant for years. It was once the social center of the neighborhood at its height. The parlor was always full of ladies and gentlemen, dressed to the nines, drinking, dancing, and laughing.  Alcohol and music flowed freely and the walls were covered with luxurious wallpapers laced with gold threads.

Then, the family money ran out and they couldn't keep the staff to maintain their luxury interior decorations. Things started to fade and unravel. And the wallpaper lost it's luster in spots

To start this faded wallpaper, I started with two easy coats of NYX Moss.

Moss is a dark gray-tinged green filled with gold shimmer that gives it movement. 

This is only the second NYX polish that I've used and I was really impressed with the formula. Two coats covered evenly and smoothly. And application was a breeze!

Then, I stamped with OPI Love Angel Music Baby and Konad plate M79. I love how the stamp didn't fully transfer on all the nails, giving it the distressed look I was going for. I topcoated and that finished off my distressed wallpaper look.

Check out what the other ladies had to offer, below! I love being part of such a creative group!

xo, ali

An InLinkz Link-up

Striped Angles

I am a terrible blogger. I didn't finish my posts for October's Nail Challenge Collaborative :( I am rallying, though and I have my last two October manicures AND November's first manicure, this week.

We'll start with a quick stamped manicure. I used three coats of Essie Too Taboo and stamped using Konad plate m95 and China Glaze Queen B.

(this is the most color accurate)

I love stamping manicures because they are such an easy way to jazz up a plain manicure :)

Don't Know Much 'Bout Geometry

Hello! It's a new month and that means a new theme for the Nail Challenge Collaborative! This month's theme is fitting for back to school. It's Geometry! I'm having a lot of fun with lines and shapes, this month. Check out my first manicure!

I started with two easy coats of Formula X for Sephora Infinite. It's such a great fall polish--all sorts of plum and brown with golden shimmer. And it goes on so easy! It's a foolproof polish, great for putting on and running out the door. I topcoated with Pure Ice Girl on the Run quick dry topcoat and reached for the Konad m95 plate. I stamped using Julep Mahima. I topcoated once again and finito!

Gold will be a recurring theme, this month, so keep your eyes peeled for mani number two!

And be sure to check out what the other ladies did to start the month off!

xo, ali

Nail Challenge Collaborative-Black and White #3

Hey there! I'm back with another Nail Challenge Collaborative mani. This is number three of four for the month. The fourth will be coming later this week.
I hope to have a little more time to do some other fun manis and swatches in the coming weeks as things should be calming down for a minute, aside from the concerts I'm going to-Phillip Phillips, Fitz and the Tantrums, Miniature Tigers, and Bleachers/Bear Hands/Cage the Elephant. That's just July!! I'm planning on seeing Andrew McMahon from Something Corporate/Jack's Mannequin in August. Buffalo just got a rad new radio station that plays newer alternative and they've been bringing a lot of awesome bands to Buffalo. I'm most excited for Bleachers. I love Jack Antonoff. Did you know he was in fun. and Steel Train?

Isn't he just adorable? And he can write songs that are catchy as HELL. I've been listening to the few songs that have been released, non-stop. I can't wait for the album to drop on 7/15. I have plans to do a Bleachers themed mani for the show. Bleachers.

Okay. You're not here for eye-candy and rockstars (but that is an added bonus). Let's look at what I put together.

For this mani, I used two coats of a frosty white Migi nail art pen. It covered well in two coats and I wasn't worried about brushstrokes because I knew I'd be covering it up with some stamping. For the stamping, I used an image from Konad plate m95 and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I love Konad plates. They stamp so well and so clear!! After stamping, I took the pink end of my nail art pen, and using the tiny, pinpoint end, I colored in the empty diamonds. To me, this looks like a harlequin clown's outfit and I'm really proud of this manicure because I managed to stay inside the lines for the majority!

I have something really cute planned for my last NCC Black & White manicure and that's coming later this week :)

Be sure to check out the other week three manis, below!

xo, ali

Holos are a Girls Best Friend!

Happy Tuesday night, lovelies! I'm happy the day is over and I can relax with some TV. We're currently watching Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., New Girl, and the Mindy Project on Tuesday nights. New TV is one of the best things about fall!

Today, I have for you what I consider to be a staple stash polish (SSP?) and some holo-y goodness. The weather has been gorgeous here in Buffalo, with sunshine every day so I had to bust out a new Color Club holo that I just picked up this weekend.
Let's get down to business!

I started with a base of Color Club Pucci-Licious, which is from the 2010 Poptastic collection.

As you can see, Pucci-licious is a medium lavender creme. The first coat was streaky and patchy but a second coat evened out any problems. This was taken indoors, artificial lighting.

I am in love with this color and don't know what took me so long to pick it up. Everyone needs this in their stash.

I wanted to spice this up a little bit so I thought I'd add some stamping to it, in the form of Color Club Fashion Addict, from the 2009 Catwalk Queen collection. I used Konad plate M95. This is only the second time I've used a Konad plate--usually I use Shany plates--but they are amazing. The images transfer so well and come out so clear.

Indoor, fluorescent lighting

Full sunlight

This is a very distracting manicure. I keep looking at the holo in the sunlight. It's just absolutely gorgeous!

Let me know what you think in the comments. See you later!

--ali