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

Caramel Apples

Don't those sound good?! It's been awhile since I had one but I'm hoping to pick one up soon, with some apple cider! Those are a few things that I enjoy about fall. And the title of this post is exactly what my third NCC manicure reminded me of.

For this quick and easy angular manicure, I started with three coats of Zoya Tosca, red with gold and orange shimmer. Fun fact about Tosca-it's the second polish ever put out by Zoya. It's a classic. Unfortunately, it's not available on the website anymore. I found mine in the huge clearance bins at a local beauty supply store for $2!

Once it was dry, I taped off my triangles and used Gridlock Lacquer Barrel Through Niagara to create the tips. Barrel Through Niagara is such a pretty, sparkly bronze and I really need to get my tail in action, swatching the whole Niagara Falls collection from Gridlock Lacquer.

I will have my final September NCC post for you tomorrow, so get excited!

And be sure to check out what the other ladies did for manicure number 3!

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:

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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

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

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:

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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

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