August NCC #3-Dressing the Part

Hey! Happy Thursday! It's been a gorgeous week, here in Buffalo, perfect for my summer wardrobe, including lots of cute dresses. Today's mani for the August Nail Challenge Collaborative Theme is inspired by a dress that I wore to work this week and I thought it was perfect for a summer tea party.

I also branched out and tried a new technique today--the dry brush, or distressed, technique, made famous by Sarah from Chalkboard Nails. You can check out her tutorial here. I just left off the swipes of black nail polish.

For this mani, I started with a base of Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt, which is one of the best whites I've tried. I topcoated with a quick dry topcoat and once it was dry, I got my colors and went to work. I started with swipes of Essie Chinchilly, a gray-toned taupe. After Chinchilly came swipes of China Glaze Dance Baby, a cool, cotton candy pink. These two were followed by China Glaze For Audrey, a light robin's egg blue (or the color of those famous little blue boxes), and China Glaze Designer Satin, a vibrant magenta. I topcoated the whole thing once more. I was surprised at how little time this took. I was able to do the look from start to finish during an episode of Full  House (the one where DJ goes to see Uncle Jesse's band play because she's dating the guitarist).

What do you guys think? I got a few compliments on this at work and one co-worker said it reminded him of candy  :)
Make sure to check out what the other ladies turned out!

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.

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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

NCC Re-Creations #4

Happy Thursdayyyyy! We have almost made it to the weekend! And I just made it under the wire for July NCC manicure #4. Tonight, I'm recreating this easy-peasy Valentine's Day look:

Ch-ch-check it out!

To create this manicure, I started with Essie Grow Stronger basecoat. I followed that with three coats of Sinful Colors Prime Purple, which has a satin matte finish. This shade just hit shelves and I had to snap it up. This one was tricky because you have to let it dry fully. Once it did, I took one of my Migi Nail Art pens in a pearly lavender and free-handed a heart on the ring finger. To keep the contrast between finishes, I didn't topcoat this look. I wore it all day today, while typing away at work and it's good to go for tomorrow!

I can't wait for next month's theme. I'm starting to brainstorm and I absolutely can't wait to see what the other ladies dream up!

Be sure to check out what they re-created for their 4th mani of the month, below!

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

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