Wallpaper: Striped

Happy Monday! I fully believe that is an oxymoron. Especially since I woke up to 10 inches of snow, this morning and it snowed all day.

However, that's not stopping me from bringing you my last look for the Nail Challenge Collaborative's January theme. Yes, I know I'm a couple days late but the past couple months, I've only managed to complete one or two looks. I putting this in the win column.

My last inspiration comes from thick-striped wallpaper. Simple but very chic. I used two Julep polishes that came in my February box for this manicure.

I started with three coats of Julep Carla-a pale pink with just the tiniest hint of lavender-on my middle and ring fingers and two coats of Julep Colton-a creamy, vampy dark purple-on my thumb, index, and pinkies. With careful application, Colton could be a OCW (one coat wonder). Then, on my middle and ring fingers and after my topcoat had dried, I laid down striping tape and painted Colton over it.

I feel really great about January's prompt and I can't wait to get started on February's. I gotta hurry, though. It's a short month ;)

Be sure to check out what the other ladies did to end the month!

xo, ali

An InLinkz Link-up

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

Light and Dark

Hey!! Happy Sunday! I'm sharing my last September manicure for the Nail Challenge Collaborative. I can't believe it's the last weekend of September, already! I'll be at Disney World in just about a week and a half!!

Tonight's manicure features a polish picked out by my boyfriend and some nail art inspired by the Nailasaurus. Let's look!

I used three coats of Gridlock Lacquer Delaware Park for my base and China Glaze Make A Spectacle on my ring finger. Once that was dry, I used striping tape to try out this manicure from Sammy and filled in my sections with Butter London Jack the Lad, an evergreen jelly base with green, silver, blue, and purple microglitter. I lifted the tape, topcoated, and voila!

This might be my favorite of all four manicures I did this month, with the very first one coming in at a close second. Got it? Okay, good.

Check out the final manicures for the month from the rest of the fabulous ladies in the Nail Challenge Collaborative, 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

NCC Re-Creation #3

Hey y'all! I'm really cutting it close with my NCC manis this month, but I've been incredibly busy! Four concerts in one month was crazy! I've never done anything like that before. I'll be doing a post with three of the concert manis I did. The only one I didn't do a mani for was Phillip Phillips.

Anyways. Tonight, I'm sharing with you my third re-creation and I re-did this manicure:

I really liked the idea of this manicure so I changed it up with some lighter colors.

You guys get to see my Cinderella hand, tonight. It actually turned out better than my left hand.

For this girly manicure, I started with three coats of Color Club Sugar Baby, which is a cream jelly with iridescent shimmer. Then I laid down striping tape on 4 out of 5 fingers and painted a generous coat of Victoria's Secret Troublemaker, a bright fuchsia with gold flecks. For my accent nail, I dotted on Troublemaker, highlighted with China Glaze Dance Baby, and did leaves with Avon Garden Green. It's all sealed with Beauty Plus Salon top coat.

I really loved the color scheme with this one. It was a lot less in yo' face than my first attempt. What do you think?

Don't forget to check out manicure numero tres from the other NCC ladies!!

xo, ali

NCC Re-creations #2

Hey! I hope you're all staying cool in your neck of the woods, tonight. I am loving the summer sun and heat we have been having and I hope it continues!

I'm here with my second re-creation for the Nail Challenge Collaborative's July theme. And, I'm featuring two polishes that were recently released by Buffalo indie lacquer creator, Gridlock Lacquer, as part of the Niagara Falls collection (which I'll be reviewing soon).
The mani I'm re-creating is this one:

Let's look!

I used three coats of Gridlock Lacquer Grape Expectations (named for the Niagara Wine Trail) and a quick-dry topcoat. Once that dried, I laid down two pieces of striping tape in an X and used Gridlock Lacquer Lock It Up (named for the locks of the Erie Canal). I did one finger at a time and lifted the tape after painting. One more swipe of topcoat and I was done.

I do have to say, I like this type of manicure with glitter accents better and I might try it with some Deborah Lippmann's I picked up recently.

Be sure to check out what the other ladies re-created!

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

'

'Merica!!

Happy Friday! And Happy Fourth of July! The calendar gods smiled down on us, this year, and gave us a three-day weekend. Woo-hoo!

I'm heading out to spend the day with family but before I go, I want to share what I'm sporting on my tips to celebrate 'Merica!!

Oh, there's Pacific Blue. This was my first time using this and everything said about it was true--amazing formula, amazing color saturation, funky smell. I am so glad that one of my local polish friends had a bottle put aside for me at Walgreens so I could have a piece of unofficial nail polish history. The community has been up in arms since we found out that Sally Hansen changed the formula. See what G at Nouveau Cheap had to say about it, here.

I digress. I used two easy coats of Pacific Blue on all nails but the ring finger. For the accent nail, I used three coats of NYC French White Tip. Once it was topcoated and dry, I laid down striping tape and painted over them with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cherry Red. I lifted the tape and just absolutely goggled at how straight my lines were. That is a first for me!

I put star studs from a Forever 21 wheel on my blue fingers and topcoated the whole shebang.

It's a manicure that Captain America would be proud of.

[source]

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

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

Tape Mani Thursday!

Goooood evening lovelies!

I hope you are all having a great week. We're almost to the weekend and Christmas. My next post after this one will be on Christmas Eve! I'm so excited to spend time with family and open presents :)

Tonight, I have a really quick, really sparkly mani for you. I don't know if Tape Mani Thursday will become a thing but this manicure is a great starting point!

I recently joined the Julep Maven program and I love it. I did the free box offer and my style quiz showed that I was an "It Girl," which is fitting ;)

I loved it so much that did December's box, but in Boho Glam.

If you are unfamiliar with the Julep Maven program, I'll give you a little rundown.

For about $20 a month, you get up to three polishes, depending on your style profile. The boxes to choose from are It Girl, Boho Glam, Bombshell, Classic With A Twist, and Modern Beauty. If you don't like your style profile's box for the month, they give you an option to choose one of the other boxes, or you can skip the month entirely. Isn't that awesome?!

If you're interested in joining from just that description, you can join up here.

Now, onto the polishes!

 In the Boho Glam box, there were two polishes and a neutral eyeshadow palette. Plus, they threw in two twistband hair ties, which I love.

For this mani, I started with my usual Orly Nail Armor base coat and then three coats of Julep Misti

Misti is a dusty teal green. It reminds me of the Atlantic Ocean.

The formula was decent on this. Because of the shape of the Julep polish bottles, you really have to make sure that you wipe the brush off on the mouth of the bottle so you don't get too much on your brush. Other than that--three coats and you're good.

I topcoated this with Beauty Plus Salon top coat.

After that dried, I took my roll of striping tape and made X's on each finger and took a thin nail art brush with Julep Joelle to make sure that I got my points exact.

Joelle is just gorgeous. Holo microglitter and slightly larger silver glitters, suspended in a clear base. It just sparkles at any angle. It's a great glitter for the holidays!

I can't wait to see what Julep has in store for next month!

What you do think about this simple, sparkly mani?

Tell me about it!

xo, ali