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

Wearing My Heart On My Nails

Hey Y'all! Happy Friday! We made it!

And Happy Valentine's day :) I'm spending it by going to the gym and hanging out with my sister, watching My Bloody Valentine.

Basically, Jensen Ackles is my Valentine and he just doesn't know it.

Yasssss. I can't wait. It's become a tradition. This movie was my gateway to slasher films.

I've done a few heart and Valentine's Day theme manicure this year and you've seen them on the ol' blog. Today I have one more for you.

Fluorescent Light

Flash

This is three coats of Sally Hansen Triple Shine in Slick Black. Slick Black is a black jelly stuffed with iridescent flakies that reflect in shades of aqua and pink. It's got a lot more dimension than just a flat black and I love that. It's a staple but with a bit more oomph.

Slick Black went on really smooth but needed the three coats to build up opacity. This is one of the two Triple Shines that I currently have and I can't wait to try more!

For the accent nail, I took Color Club Age of Aqua-rius and made three dots. All you do is connect the dots! I thought this was simple and cute. Plus I love the color scheme!

That's all for me!

xo, ali

GOT Challenge: Stripes

Gooooood evening loves! I hope that you are all doing well, tonight. I'm back with another installment of The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursday polish challenge! The theme this week was Stripes and I used it to branch out my nail art into something that I've never tried before and I think it turned out pretty good. Let's take a look at the process!

I started with three coats of Sally Hansen CSM in Mousseline, which is a light and airy ecru. I love the name of this polish because of my slight obsession with Marie Antoinette. Mousseline was the nickname given to her oldest daughter, Marie Thérèse.

[source]

*ahem* I've put my inner history nerd back into her cage.

This was such a good palate cleanser after the neon/holo mani I was sporting last week. It would also be a great base for lots of different glitter toppers.

Mousseline was sandwiched between Orly Nail Armor and NYC Grand Central Station.

I let this dry overnight and after my Saturday morning coffee, I got to work.

On all nails, except my ring finger on each hand, I put three pieces of striping tape and painted over them with one thick coat of China Glaze Snap My Dragon from last spring's Avant Garden collection. This was one of my favorite polishes that came out last year. It's such a gorgeous, saturated pinky red, shot through with pink shimmer.

On my ring fingers, I took a large dotting tool and dotted Snap My Dragon around. Then, I mixed Mousseline with Snap MY Dragon, and using a tiny detail brush, added some highlights. For the leaves, I used Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Garden Green, which is a leafy green with a silvery-blue shimmer.

I used the Nailasaurus' tutorial to make my little roses and, while they didn't turn out as perfect as hers are, I still think I hit the mark pretty well with these!

Have you been trying any new nail art techniques? I'd love to hear about it! And be sure to check out what the other lovely ladies have done for this week's theme!

xo, ali

Suzi and Dorien-A Blizzard Adventure

Hey, hey! I'm coming to you, live from my living room, as I begin my second straight day of being stuck indoors. The Blizzard of 2014 is "over"in the Buffalo area and now we start digging out. The driving bans are lifted and the expressways and thruways are open but the roads are a MESS. And I'm the worst winter driver.

I took this opportunity to do something creative with my nails, because I had a great block of time.

I started with two coats of OPI Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs on my thumb, index, middle, and pinky and two coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dorien Gray.

Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs is from the Germany collection that was released in Fall 2012. She's a gooooorgeous red-toned purple shimmer that covered well in two coats. 

Dorien Gray is a milky cement gray that I picked up in a CSM five-pack from Big Lots, last year. This covered decently in two coats but if I were wearing this as a regular manicure, I'd definitely use three coats to cover up any patchiness. I figured since I'd be stamping over, it would be okay.

I did all the base work in the afternoon and topped it with NYC Grand Central Station. Then I did what you should do on a snow day--take a nap! 

Later in the evening, I got out my stamping plates and picked BM-410 from the 2013 Create Your Own collection and stamped using Suzi and the Seven Dusseldorfs

(I don't know what is with the coloring on this one...)

I can't tell if these are fish bones or arrows but I really like this pattern. Suzi stamped so well! I was really happy with how the design came out. Of course, the awesome quality of the BM plates contributed to this, as well.

I top coated with OPI top coat, and, using a dot of top coat and a dotting tool, placed a rhinestone at the base. The rhinestones are from Bundle Monster as well and I think that it added a little something extra to the mani.

I'm really proud of this manicure and my nubbins are coming along, quite nicely, I think.

Did you get snowed in? Or are you guys popsicles? How are you staying warm?

I'll be wrapped up on my couch with 

Tim Riggins--hubba hubba!

[source]

xo, ali