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

Wallpaper: Quatrefoil

Hey! Happy Thursday night! I have a quick post for y'all tonight. It's another entry for January's theme of the Nail Challenge Collaborative-Wallpaper.
Tonight's manicure is inspired by this:

[source]

Indirect sunlight

Direct sunlight

Macro

I started out with two easy coats of OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid and a quick-dry top coat. When I say easy coats, I mean easy. This is awesome to apply. It's a great polish to put on if you have to run out the door and don't have a lot of time. It's almost a OCW (one coat wonder) and if I were more careful with my application, it probably could have been. 

To create the quatrefoil design, I followed a really great youtube tutorial from Christabel Nails that you can find here. This was the first time I watched one of her tutorials and I really liked it! Her voice was so relaxing and she is a true master.

I dotted OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in the quatrefoil pattern and then dotted My Dogsled is a Hybrid within the dots. I let everything dry a little bit before topcoating so I didn't smear. I love the gold peeking out from the aqua and I've been sneaking peeks at my nails, all day.

This whole manicure took under an hour; I was able to do everything while I watched Empire, which I love a little bit more with each episode.  Have you caught an episode yet?

Be sure to check out the decorating that the other girls did for their second manicures, below!

xo, ali

An InLinkz Link-up

Wallpaper: Retro

Hey there! I'm trying to complete all of my January Nail Challenge Collaborative manicures. This month's theme is wallpaper. When the theme was announced, I definitely knew I'd be doing some stamping so I decided to kick off the month with some.

For this manicure, I started with three coats of Revlon Enchanting, which came out last spring as part of the Bubblegum Days/Urban Nights collection and has since been made a core shade. It's a lovely, creamy lavender with a hit of pink shimmer that is a little bit more prominent in the bottle than on the nail.

Once that dried, I used BM-404 from the 2013 Create Your Own set and OPI I Carol About you from the Gwen Stefani holiday collection. I Carol About You is a great dark grape shade of purple with red shimmer throughout, which you can see in the macro shot above. The more coats you use in a manicure, the deeper it gets. I love it. It's also great for stamping!

I really loved this manicure and I actually still have it on as I type. I'm taking it off tonight but it has really held up, since Monday night!

Be sure to check out what the other talented ladies are producing, below!

xo, ali

Deck the Nails!

Happy Monday! I'm finding it hard to believe that it's December, already! With a new month, comes a new Nail Challenge Collaborative theme and this month's theme is dots! Lots of possibilities!

I decided to kick off this month with a holiday design, using gold, green, and red.

Flash

Overcast daylight

I used two coats of OPI Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and topcoated it for shine and to enhance the shimmer in it. Then, I took my large dotting tool and dotted NY&Co Inverness and China Glaze Just Be-Claws from last year's holiday collection. A little bit more top coat and you've got a festive manicure!

Be sure to check out the other ladies and their first December manicures, below!

xo, ali

Blue is the New Black

Well, good evening! Just a quick post to show off another Nail Challenge Collaboration creation.

To start this manicure, I laid down three coats of OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw, a navy blue with a green tinge that gives it a little bit of a teal tilt. Once that was dry, I used striping tape to mark lines and painted each finger with OPI Alcatraz...Rocks. I painted one finger at a time and lifted the tape off, carefully. 

I didn't top coat after Alcatraz...Rocks because it's a Liquid Sand polish and I loved the contrast and the little bits of shiny polish peeking out.

Hope you enjoyed the glittery goodness. Every Monday is a little better with some shimmer and sparkle ;)

And don't forget to check out the second manicures from the NCC ladies for October!

xo, ali

An InLinkz Link-up

It's the Holiday Season...?

Good evening and long time, no see! October has been insane!! I'm just now getting a chance to breathe. My sister and I returned from DISNEYWORLD, last week and well, I need a vacation from my vacation! I'm hiding my head in shame that this is only my first manicure for October's Nail Challenge Collaborative theme-Stripes

The manicure I have for you tonight would be a great one to wear to a Christmas party or family gathering.

I started with two coats of Salon Perfect's Ivy League, which is a brand exclusive to Wal-Mart. Ivy League was part of their 2013 back to school collection. It's a blackened forest green with tons of shimmer. Such a gorgeous polish!

I topcoated with Beauty Plus Salon. Once it was dry, I laid down striping tape at the tips and covered the rest of the nail with Scotch tape, before painting on OPI L. A. M. B. from the Gwen Stefani collection. L. A. M. B. is a pale, molten gold, with a satin finish. Flows like butter. I have used it in so many manicures. I love the contrast between the shine of Ivy League and the satin of L. A. M. B. so I left this without top coat.

I wore this on the first leg of our Disney World adventure. My sister and I drove to our mom and dad's apartment in Charlotte to bunk for the night. The next morning, the four of us journeyed onto Orlando and the Happiest Place on Earth. I picked up some polishes from the Beautifully Disney cosmetic line and I'll be sharing those soon!

Be sure to check out what the other talented ladies did for their first manicures of the month, below

xo, ali

Art-Deco Inspiration

Hey all! If you're reading this, we survived Monday! I'm back with another manicure for September's Nail Challenge Collaborative theme-Geometric.

When I first heard what the theme was, this month, my mind went to one of my favorite recent movies:

[source]

Baz Luhrmann's version of the Great Gatsby was everything I hoped it would be-a flashy, bright, tragic love story with Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Let's check it out.

I started with two coats of OPI All Sparkly and Gold, from the Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection. I actually wore it for a day, by itself, and I loved it!

I laid down striping tape and painted over it with NYC Black Lace Creme, one finger at a time, and pulled the tape up, leaving the ring finger and thumb as accent nails. The last step was to topcoat the whole thing for some extra shine.

This is what Cher Horowitz would call a Monet--good-looking from far away but once you get up close, it's a big ol' mess. The striping tape was near the end of the roll and I think it lost some of its stick. No matter what I did, it would not stay stuck around the edges and that caused the black to bleed a few times. I definitely would love to recreate this with some other color palettes. The possibilities are endless!

The color scheme was inspired by the Great Gatsby's logo and this is something I'd wear to a party at Gatsby's for a night of drinking, dancing, and debauchery!

I'm still thinking on my next two manicures for this month's theme, plus a few more posts for you guys!!

Be sure to check out the fine lines done by the rest of the NCC ladies, and thanks for reading!!

xo, ali

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:

[source]

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

Nail Challenge Collaborative-Recreations

Hey there, everyone! We're back with another installment of the Nail Challenge Collaborative. July's theme is "recreate your first four nail art manicures." Kind of wordy, yes, but it's a great way to see how far we've all come!! Let's look at my first manicure for the month.

The manicure I'm recreating is this one:

You can read the original post from November 2013 here.

And now, 6 months later

I Summer-ized this look with some bright shades of coral. The base is three coats of China Glaze Flip-Flop Fantasy (old formula). I laid down scotch tape for the points and striping tape for the lines and painted over it with OPI A Definite Moust-Have.

I took other pictures of this manicure but I just could not get them to be color accurate. My lines are a lot cleaner this time around; I definitely took my time and it shows.

Be sure to check out what the other girls did for their first manicure of the month!

xo, ali

'

It Came From Beyond the Vault...

Happy Monday! I just have a quick post for you tonight, as I am getting ready for my older sister's wedding on Saturday. I'm bringing you a manicure from the vault tonight with some simple tape art.

Flash

Indirect Natural Light

Sunlight

This is three coats of Zoya Layla-an eye-searing neon pink creme. It dries to a satin-matte finish so you will need top coat to shine it up. This went on really easy and there were very few streaks. I used that third coat just to even everything out. When it was dry, I taped off the lower portion of my nails and used OPI's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. from the Gwen Stefani collection. That also dries to a satin-matte finish but I liked the contrast between finishes, so I left it as is.

What do you think? I can definitely see myself recreating this for summer!

xo, ali

Steady on Stranger Tides

(or GOT: Chevron)

I'm late to Golden Oldie Thursday and posting it on a Friday night. I guess I'm really bad at time management. What had happened was...

I went to the gym and was murdered by a Nike Training Club work out and realized that the mani I did Wednesday night didn't qualify because I used two polishes I had picked out over the weekend.

So, I regrouped and redid and here we are! Let's look :)

I dug through my oldest OPIs and found Steady As She Rose (left) and On Stranger Tides (right). Both of these originated in the Pirates of the Carribbean: Stranger Tides movie tie-in collection that hit shelves in Spring 2011. That collection came out right as I was beginning to become the polish-aholic that I am now. I picked these up at Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls, respectively.

On all nails except for the ring finger on each hand, I did two coats of Stranger Tides On my ring fingers, I did two coats of Steady As She Rose. I topcoated with Color Club 0-60 and waited a few minutes.

Once everything was dry enough, I laid down four pieces of striping tape to make the criss-crossed chevrons you see here. I painted one coat of Stranger Tides over the tape, pulled the tape up and voila!

(this shot is not for color accuracy, but detail)

I really loved how soft and pretty this was. The gray tones in each polish really worked with each other and this was a feminine twist on army green.

What do you think?

And while you're at it, check out what the other ladies thought up and posted (on time)!

xo, ali

Sweets for the Sweet

Happy Tuesday and Happy February! I can't believe it's February, already. But you know what that means! Valentine's Day nail art. Last year, I only had time to do one Valentine's Day mani but I have a few ideas, this year.

Let's take a look!

 Right hand.

Left hand.

For this conversation heart skittle, I used:

Thumb-Revlon Jaded

Index-Revlon Sunshine Sparkle

Middle-Revlon Cafe Pink

Ring-OPI You're Such a Buda-pest

Pinky-Color Club Evolution

Three coats of each and stamped with Kleancolor Metallic Pink and Bundle Monster 421 and 425.

I am absolutely "in love" with this manicure (hee hee hee) and I can't wait to do a few more.

I'll be back Thursday with another GOT installment. See you then!

xo, ali