Saturday, June 29, 2013

I DID IT!!!!

Hey y'all!  I am proud to announce that after 5 long months, I officially graduated from beauty school today.  I'm not quite an official nail technician yet but I finished school and will go take my state board exams soon. 

I really am proud of myself.  I worked hard and tried to learn everything I possibly could. I feel confident in my abilities and most importantly I love this job!  I really, truly love doing nails and I'm so happy to finally know what I want to be when I grow up.  ;)  If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I wanted to do nails for a living I probably would have laughed. 

I started this blog 2 years ago as a hobby not thinking it was just for fun but it really opened up a lot of doors for me.  It made me realize that I could use my creativity and artistic abilities in ways I had never really thought about before.  I have always loved art and anything crafty and creative so doing nails is really the perfect job for me.  It makes me HAPPY!!!! 

It was bittersweet leaving all of the new friends I have made at school but I can't wait to see what is waiting for me in my career.  I am optimistic about my future and what it holds for me and my family.  :)


I would really like to thank all of my readers for your encouragement and thanks for sticking with me the last few months when I wasn't able to post much due to school.  You guys rock my socks off!  :) 

With all of that being said....you KNOW you're dying to see how I wore my nails for my big day.  I asked some of my polish friends what I should wear and they unanimously picked nail art.  I didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything elaborate so I chose to do a neon gradient with China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Kleancolor Neon Pink and Neon Purple with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust on top. 



Thanks again everybody!  Have a great weekend! XOXO 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Dark Starry Knight inspired nail art

Hey y'all!  I am so excited to share with you some of the newest nail art I've done.  This was inspired by the painting Dark Starry Knight by James Hance.  I love, love, love this painting, it's amazing!  James Hance is a seriously amazing artist, you can check out his work HERE

I have been wanting to do this for a while but I knew it would be time consuming.  The other day in class I had some free time and I took the opportunity.  It took me about 2 hours give or take.  I am so happy with how it turned out. 



I really don't know if I could do this on shorter natural nails but I think I may give it a go soon. 

I graduate this Saturday from my nail course.  Ahhhh!  I am SO ready!  I took the last of my tests today and got all of my exit paperwork done too.  I can't wait! 

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great one! XOXO

Monday, June 24, 2013

Client Nails

Hey y'all!  Today I just wanted to share some things I did on clients recently.  These are all acrylic full sets I did. 






Here's a cute Cheetah Print Pedicure I did too, HERE.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Blue Gradient with Coverband's Sticks N Stones

Hey y'all!  Just a quick post today to share some cute nails I did on myself a week or so ago.  I loved this look so much. 




I normally go up and down with my gradients but this time I went side to side.  I just love how it turned out.  I haven't worn Sticks N Stones in a while, glad I used it. 

12 days left until I graduate nail school!!!!! Think good thoughts for me, I start taking all of my practice exams this week and wrapping everything up.  XOXO 

Friday, June 14, 2013

OPI Magazine Cover Mouse and MInnie Nail Art

Hey y'all!  Tuesday I shared with you how I wore OPI Minnie Style, today I'm showing you my favorite of the two Couture de Minnie polishes I picked up.  This is OPI Magazine Cover Mouse with an accent nail with Couture Minnie. 



I love how this turned out and I love this polish.  The Liquid Sands are awesome and this one is so gorgeous.  I love how bright the red is and the flecks of gold glitter through out, LOVE!  Minnie was inspired by the drawing that was in the Couture de Minnie ad campaign.  She's so chic. 

Did you get any of the Couture de Minnie polishes? 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

OPI Minnie Style with gradient and bow accent

Hey y'all!  Hope everyone is doing well. I'm doing good, I only have 3 more weeks left of school!!!!  My nerves are shot but I am SO freaking excited.  lol   You know what the best cure for stress is though right?  Retail therapy!  I did a little of that to make me feel better and it worked.  ;) 

I picked up a few of the new OPI Couture de Minnie polishes.  I got Minnie Style and Magazine Cover Mouse.  Those were my favorites from the collection, they are so cute.  I have another post later this week to show you how I wore Magazine Cover Mouse.  Today I'm sharing Minnie Style. 

The first thing I think of when I think of Minnie is her cute bow she wears so I thought this mani was fitting. 



I love the red and white glitter, it's so stinking cute.  I did the gradient using Wet N Wild Flirty Rose Creme and NYC Greenwich Village.  I sculpted the bow right on the nail using a glitter acrylic I mixed up. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Lace Nail Art



Hello!  Today I wanted to share some lace nail art I did last week.  These were inspired by one of my favorite nail artist/bloggers, Lexi of Finger Painted.  She does some really cute, intricate lace designs that will knock your socks off.  I love all of her work!

I chose to just use the lace design as an accent nail.  I used OPI La Paz-Itively Hot,  the lace was done using OPI Black Onyx and I used Butter London matte topcoat. 



I think this would make a great wedding design.  I could see doing this in white on a pretty pale pink polish, that would be so pretty. 

Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO  

Friday, June 7, 2013

China Glaze Textured Polish Swatches

PR Samples

Hey y'all!  Today I have a few swatches from the China Glaze Textured collection to show you.   I really wasn't sure what to think when I first heard about these but I was pleasantly surprised.  They apply nice and even.  I thought they would dry matte but they have a nice shine to them.

China Glaze In The Rough

China Glaze Itty, Bitty, and Gritty

 China Glaze Unrefined

Itty, Bitty and Gritty was my favorite on me!  Here's a little simple nail art I did using Itty, Bitty and Gritty and In the Rough.  


The products in this post were sent for review for my honest and unbiased opinions.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Lilly Pulitzer Inspired Nail Art

Hey y'all!  I just realized I haven't done a school update lately.  I only have about 3 1/2 weeks left YAY!  I'm so ready to be done, these last few weeks are going to be excruciating I can already tell.  I'm just really stressing about everything to be honest with you.  Even though I feel pretty confident that I'm going to pass my state board exams, I still can't help but worry.  I'll probably have about a month to study before I go take my boards so I'm glad for that.  I'm just ready to get it over with so I can relax. I'm ready to go to work and do what I love.  This week we're on diseases of the nails. It's fun....gross, but fun!  I like the gross stuff I just hope I don't run into a whole lot of it in my career. lol 


That's really about it, I'm on the final countdown.  woohoo!  How about we talk nail art now?  I am loving my nails right now.  They were inspired by a Lilly Pulitzer pattern I saw online.  If you don't know anything about Lilly Pulitzer, all of of her patterns are bold and bright and just absolutely adorable.


I think I captured it pretty well.  





These are my daughter's nails.  Her's were inspired by her new glasses case made by Lilly Pulitzer.  


Thanks for taking the time to read my post today!  Have a great day!  XOXO

Monday, June 3, 2013

Salon Perfect Neon Collision Swatches

PR Samples sent for review

Hey y'all!  Today I have a few polish swatches to share from the new Salon Perfect Neon Collision collection.  These are supposed to be available at Wal-Mart sometime in June.  They are neon matte glitters in a clear base and they are so cute!  

This is one coat of Salon Perfect Shocked over a coat of OPI Alpine Snow.  Look at the coverage it has in just one coat!  Shocked is a mixture of pink and blue matte glitter. 

This is two coats of Salon Perfect Jolt.  You can see it's full coverage in just two coats, I love glitters like that!  Jolt is a mixture of yellow and orange matte glitter.  

And lastly I have on Salon Perfect Zapped.  This is two coats as well.  Zapped is a mixture of green and blue glitter.  There is much more green than blue in Zapped.  

I do have a topcoat on top of these swatches, they actually dry a lot like the textured/sand polishes.  In my opinion they don't have a very consistent application.  Jolt and Zapped were both kind of thick when I first tried to apply them so I had to put in a little thinner.  Shocked had a nice even consistency though. 

I really like the look of them and I look forward to picking up the rest in this collection.  

Some products in this post were sent to me for review by a company representative.