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: 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

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

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.

[source]

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

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

Springtime Skittlette

Happy Monday! That really seems like an oxymoron to me, but I survived the day and I'm here to bring you a quick skittlette I did last week, while watching Frozen for the first time.

Why were lil Elsa and Anna so darn cute?!

Anyways. I was having a crappy night, one night last week and my friend brought me a little cheer-up gift, including a new polish. Let's take a look at how I used it.

This is the gifted polish-Sinful Colors Out of Bounds. This polish came out last spring, but it's dead on for Pantone's Color of the Year 2014: Radiant Orchid.

I also busted out China Glaze Fancy Pants, which was part of last spring's Avant Garden collection. Fancy Pants is a purple creme with pink and blue shimmer running throughout.

I also used Kleancolor Kiss Goodbye which is a mix of pink, blue, and gold microglitters in a clear base. It's got the typical Kleancolor smell but it's such a pretty mixture.

 I tried my best to channel the queen of Skittlettes-Marta from ChitChat Nails. Just look at any one of her posts. She's a master.

I did two coats of Out of Bounds and top coated. Then I took BM-404 and stamped my index and middle fingers with Fancy Pants. Kiss Goodbye was applied in one coat each on my pinky and thumb. A fimo bow from a Forever 21 wheel finished off the look.

What do you think? If only this would bring spring to Buffalo, really and truly!

xo, ali

Once Upon a Dream

Hey! Happy Tuesday! I hope it finds you all well and warm. I wish Spring would hurry up and get here!

I have a manicure that I really loved to share with you tonight, so let's look!

ooh there's a little sneak peek of one of my tattoos...my heart on my sleeve ;)

Sorry about the janky cuticles! I had to be quick to get the natural day light!

This is three coats of a polish I picked up from Forever 21's revamped polish line. They have a lot of unique colors this time around, but the names are still terrible. This was called "Blue/Pink" but, being a Disney fan, I've dubbed this:

Once Upon a Dream.

Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie, with the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast second and third.

This polish is a baby blue creme flecked with magenta and iridescent hexes and iridescent bar glitters. Props to Forever 21 for picking up on the indie polish trend. I absolutely love this and definitely look forward to wearing it again.

Once it was dry (thanks to Color Club 0-60), I used Cult Nails Time Traveler (inspired by a certain Doctor) and one of my best friend's Mash plates to stamp the swirly design. 

I really loved this. Once Upon A Dream applied well but it didn't last long, which might not be a bad thing when you have polish ADD like me!

What do you think? What's your favorite Disney movie, or polish inspired by it?

xo, ali

Pickin' Wildflowers

Good evening! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was a three-day weekend and it was spent on a wine tour, spending time with my sister, and saying goodbye to my parents. They moved to North Carolina today because my dad retired. I'm very happy for them to be able to start this chapter of their lives but I already miss them like crazy!

Part of this weekend was also spent getting a "professional" manicure. I use that term very loosely. I've had great manicures in the past and I even fell victim to the glamorous lure of acrylic nails. But, this weekend was, quite possibly, the worst manicure experience I've had. As you know, I rock square nails, or as square as I can make them. As you'll see below, they are now round. I actually had to request the manicurist to use a basecoat before she polished. I had to do clean-up when I got home.

I guess this is the catch-22 of being a nail polish addict. I may not be a licensed nail tech but I've become pretty picky over the years about my nail care routine and how my nails are painted. I know that this tech is just trying to do her job and doesn't bank on getting girls like me in her chair but your professionalism and customer service can go a long way!

/rant.

Thanks for letting me get that out of my system. Let's get to the real reason you're here.

After my professional mani (OPI Cajun Shrimp) chipped the day after, I decided to do my own manicure.

I used three coats of Revlon Parfumerie Apricot Nectar and stamped with Color Club Wildflowers

I had a really hard time getting this to be color accurate and it was super-frustrating.  I need to get a different set up for my pictures and lighting. The most accurate color of Apricot Nectar would be the bottle shots. It's a pink toned orange and reminds me of orange Creamsicles. Wildflowers is a pink-toned red that stamped really well. Of course, I was also using a Bundle Monster plate, so that helped a little bit ;)

I can't wait to use Wildflowers as a full mani.

That's all from me, tonight. See you on Thursday for GOT!!

xo, ali