My Ball Has Dropped.

Yep. I went there.

As I write this, the majority of you lovely people are out celebrating the end of 2012, the beginning of 2013, perhaps even plotting who your midnight kiss will be. I'm cozied up on the couch with my electric blanket and a small white dog listening to the sounds of a snoring sister on the other couch (she's going to kill me if she reads this!!). I'll be lucky if I make it until midnight, I'm falling asleep already and it's only 10:15 p.m. Lame, eh? Well, before I pass the you-know-what out, I'd better post my last nail art of 2012, right? I know it's been a while, and my absence will be explained soon, so just be patient, and know that I plan to start posting more regularly again. :)

Anyway- Farewell 2012... and Hello 2013! Here's hoping everyone's 2013 is abundant with blessings, love, and happiness!

For the final nail art of 2012, I used silver hex glitter to do a NYE version of a moonicure! I tried to convey that the 'moon' is the ball dropping in Times Square. :)  I hope you like it!  I used Zoya Storm from the Ornate collection to simulate all the confetti falling in the night sky. I absolutely love this polish!!

I used:

Black: American Apparel Hassid
Black Holo: Zoya Storm
Gold: China Glaze 2030

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite


See you next year, kids! :)

Where in the World?

So yeah,  I've been MIA for a while. I'll get to that in my next post.

Just checking in to let you lovely people know I'm still alive.

Next post will be from American soil!

:)

Moonicure Monday - GObama!

As I'm sure most of you know (if you're from the the US or not), tomorrow is Election Day! Of course I had to do presidential nails for the occasion! I know that the topic of politics is a hot button issue these days, and this post is my nail art in support of President Barack Obama! Living outside the US this past year, I have gotten a better hold on what others think of the US, its people, and our president, and it's pretty clear to me who they want.

Side note, my nails are more nubbiny now, I broke my thumbnail after accidentally 'scoring' it with a paring knife while cooking. Ironic that it happened the same day Katherine of Manicure Addict commented that my nails were getting really long! lol

Who are you voting for? Tell me in the comments! (Please be respectful. Rude comments will not be published. Thanks for being adults! :D)

I used:

White: American Apparel T-Shirt
Red: American Apparel Downtown LA
Blue: Pure Ice French Kiss
Red Glitter: Milani Red Sparkle
Blue Glitter: Milani Blue Flash

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite + Cult Nails Wicked Fast

Dia de los Homer

November is upon us again, and with it comes Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Sugar skull imagery has popped up everywhere in recent years, tattoos, makeup, art, you name it. I adore the DOTD art, it's all pretty much awesome.

This year, instead of doing a typical sugar skull, I wanted to do a little bit of a different twist on it, so I did my dog Homer in the Dia de los Muertos style, and I'm super pleased with how he turned out. (He approved too...he even sat in the chair with me and supervised! :-P) I decided to give him a gold tooth, I think it makes him look more bad-ass. :D

Do you think the gold tooth is funny? Let me know in the comments below! :D

I used:

Red-orange: American Apparel Lopez Canyon
White: American Apparel T-Shirt
Black: American Apparel Hassid
Reddish: American Apparel Poppy
Orange: Zoya Jancyn
Yellow: American Apparel Sunshine State
Chartreuse: American Apparel MacArthur Park
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn
Purple: American Apparel African Violet
Pink: Zoya Lara
Gold: China Glaze 2030
Red: American Apparel Downtown LA
Green: CND Green Scene

HalloWEDNESDAY Post! - Mummy Dearest

WOO! Tropical Cyclone (hurricane) Nilam decided to let up a bit here in Chennai, and my power is back on. I posted earlier on Twitter that there might not be a HalloWEDNESDAY post because of that...but there is! I have power! :D (Unfortunately, this also means that I have no excuse to eat all the ice cream in the freezer now. :D) 

Halloween has ALWAYS been one of my favorite holidays, I remember my mom always made our costumes, and after I got to certain age, I started making my own. One year I transformed a box that my (disassembled) desk came packaged in into a stick of Juicy Fruit costume. I got lots of candy (and dimes) that year. I tend to go all out with my costumes, and have won a fair amount of the contests I've entered- one time I even won a trip for two to fabulous Las Vegas!! (before I lived there, of course :D) 

Today is the last design in the 2011 HalloWEDNESDAY series, and I wanted it to be a fun but fast one, since today actually IS Halloween! I used masking tape and a cosmetic sponge to get this effect, I originally tried it with a tea-stained teabag, but I couldn't get the effect I was looking for. I saw the masking tape in my Helmer drawer and figured, "Why not?" and it worked! :D

What do you think... was this a good way to 'wrap up' the 2012 HalloWEDNESDAY series? Tell me in the comments below! :D

I used: 

Masking Tape

Cosmetic Sponge

Barielle Aura Angora

Barielle Coco Bar

Moonicure Monday - Something to 'Phone Home' About?

Moonicure Monday is late. I'm sorry. My sister is here in India visiting, and though it was painted, I am just now getting to post it! Lucky for her, She decides to come to India when Tropical Cyclone (what we call a Hurricane in the US) Nilam decides to show up! Lots of crazy wind right now and trees down all over. Anyway, this 'episode' of Moonicure Monday is another Halloween-themed one–and one from our pop-culture past, at that! I sure hope you recognize that lovable extra-terrestrial creature best known as ET flying across my half-moon on the bike with Elliot! OK, now I just need some Reese's Pieces!

I also got the chance to use one of the new American Apparel Glow in the Dark polishes I ordered, and I love them! (I got all three, and they actually glow different colors!)

I used:

Off-White: Illamasqua Load (hee hee)
Glow: American Apparel Moon (Glow in the Dark)
Dark Blue: American Apparel Passport Blue

HalloWEDNESDAY! I Broke the Mold

Have you noticed that all my Halloween posts have been grotesque or creepy? Today is no different, I've got moldy, mossy, nasty nail art for you today! Only one more HalloWEDNESDAY left, and that will be Halloween, so I have to think of something extra wicked. (In more ways than one!) What do you guys think of the creepy nail art? Are you more of a creepy/gross nail art fan or do you prefer the cutesy/fun kind? 

The design I came up with for today utilizes flocking powder, and actually benefits from the staining on my nails. (YES, I use basecoat EVERY time I paint my nails, not sure why they stain so badly!) They were most recently stained by Zoya Kimber, which I used in my BCA design. That polish is actually pretty gorgeous, but man did it stain! (worth it!!)

Would you wear this design? Tell me why or why not in the comments!

Tutorial to come! :)

I used: 

Olive Green: Zoya Dree

Dark Green: Zoya Envy

Green flocking powder

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On

Check out this cool moth that was hangin' out by the fluorescent light outside!

Moonicure Monday - What a Slimeball!

Ever have one of those days? I did today. lol

Today I had to go to the FRRO (Foreign Resident Registration Office) here in Chennai to apply for my visa extension. Sweet holy hell, whoever thought that place up is a sadist. You go from sitting in a row of chairs (then everyone stands up and moves to the next chair when someone gets to go to the next room), to a room where you do the chair thing again. A lady (or man) looks at your papers, writes some stuff, sends you to another room where you AGAIN do the chair thing. When you get to the front of that queue, that person looks at your papers, writes some more stuff, sends you back to the first room (again doing the chair thing). That person looks at your same papers once more, gives you a token, where you go back to the other room again and wait for your number to be called. Heaven forbid you have some odd piece of paperwork missing that the people in legal didn't give you (because they didn't know you needed it- I swear the process changes daily). What? Someone from the office brought you the paperwork within 45 minutes? You want to hand it over now? Nope, sorry. Your new appointment is in 3 days. Come back then. *SCREAM*. After about 6.5 hours of that, I got to go to the office. :D

That was my day. When I got home, I literally tried 6 different designs for Moonicure Monday, which all failed. (Even the simplest one ever- newsprint transfer!) Now, I've been wanting to use this Cult Nails Deal With It polish for ages. (On my fingernails - it's been on my toes for weeks!!) This is a super awesome and fairly unique polish that is a perfect color for slime. I figured- Halloween? Slime? Yep, I'm in. :) Not my best attempt, but I still love the slime part! lol I hope Coco approves of my use of her polish creation! :-P

What do you think?

I used:

Light Grey: Nubar Marble Tower
Black: Cult Nails Nevermore
Green: Cult Nails Deal With It
Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite + Cult Nails Wicked Fast

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of Reader Nail Art Week!  Today is the last day to get your submissions in!! Don't forget - I'm posting EVERY design I get (except for multiple entries in a day), so if you don't see yours, make sure you emailed it to the correct address! :)

Today we have pop culture, halloween, food, and country inspired nails! Rock on!! :D

Remember: 


• No cell phone pictures
• Images must not be larger than 1000 pixels wide
• Any designs are OK
• Only one submission will be accepted per day (please don't mail multiple entries in one email)
• International entries welcome!
• Have fun!
• Send to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com ONLY. These are the ONLY submissions I will accept.

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 5

Wow- Day 5 already! Today we have beloved cartoon characters, abstracts, dotting and pop art legends!


Remember:


• No cell phone pictures
• Images must not be larger than 1000 pixels wide
• Any designs are OK
• Only one submission will be accepted per day (please don't mail multiple entries in one email)
• International entries welcome!
• Have fun!
• Send to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com ONLY. These are the ONLY submissions I will accept.

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 4

Day 3 of Reader Nail Art Week has skulls, and zombies and studs! Some great ideas guys- keep those submissions coming!!

Remember:

• No cell phone pictures
• Images must not be larger than 1000 pixels wide
• Any designs are OK
• Only one submission will be accepted per day (please don't mail multiple entries in one email)
• International entries welcome!
• Have fun!
• Send to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com ONLY. These are the ONLY submissions I will accept.

Beauty Blog Coalition Halloween Sweepstakes - Win a $500 Gift Card!

The ladies of the Beauty Blog Coalition have teamed up once again to host another sweepstakes for our dear readers!  The Beauty Blog Coalition Halloween Sweepstakes begins today, 17 October, and will end on 1 November 2012.  One winner will receive a $500 USD Visa Gift Card!  All terms and conditions may be found at the bottom of the Rafflecopter widget.  Please allow the widget to load in full.  You may enter on any of the participating blogs below - Rafflecopter will not allow you to enter twice.  You may tweet about the giveaway (the last option in the Rafflecopter) every day for extra entries!    Beauty and Fashion Tech   Beauty Info Zone  Beauty Thesis  Blushing BasicsBlushing Noir
Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom
Cosmetics Aficionado
Emily Hudspeth, Bringing the Beauty to You!
FutureDerm
Lawless Lacquer
Madame B Fatale
Making Up the Midwest
Midnight Manicures
Moxie Reviews
My Highest Self
My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog
Peek & Ponder   Perilously Pale
Phyrra
Polarbelle
polish fixation
polish insomniac
PolishGalore
Prime Beauty
Stephanie Louise- All Things Beautiful
The Daily Nail Blog
The Plastic Diaries
TheFabZilla   a Rafflecopter giveaway      

HalloWEDNESDAY! I'm So Ogre This.

So you may be thinking to yourself, hmmmm, it's been a few weeks since the last HalloWEDNESDAY manicure...and you'd be right. I seriously tried what I wanted to do for last week's manicure 4 separate times. Photographed them 4 separate times. Failed. Four. Separate. Times. I'm human, I gave up...until today. After a few tweaks and some magical matte topcoat, I'm reasonably content with the design. Finally. :)  This design could be interpreted several ways- it could be a witch's warts, Ogre bumps, toad warts, or several other things, depending on the colors you use! Look for the tutorial in the next couple of days! :)

I used:

American Apparel MacArthur Park
Zoya Dree
Priti Weeping Birch
MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious
Born Pretty Store Pearls

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite + Cult Nails Wicked Fast + Essie Matte About You

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of Reader Nail Art Week!

Keep those submissions coming to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com!!

Check out all the awesome reader submissions after the jump!! :)

Tadashi Shoji Nail Art Challenge

All of us nail nerds look forward to Fashion Week, we can't wait to see what the heck the nail artists teamed up with the designers come up with. Imagine my excitement when I was contacted by someone from fashion designer Tadashi Shoji's team to participate in a nail art challenge inspired by his Spring/Summer 2013 collection - A Modern Silk Road. Fashion aside, to be grouped with the other amazing and talented nail artists that are participating is nothing short of completely flattering. (and overwhelming, how the heck am I going to measure up to these nail art giants!?!)

I'll be honest, I had a hard time with this- I actually LOVE the collection, it was hard to figure out which piece to draw inspiration from. I finally decided on this dress, I'm completely in love with the pattern and colors of this fabric.

Image courtesy of Vogue.com

I drew inspiration from the color palette, pattern, and straight lines/stripes/necklines that I saw through much of the collection. I used my nail art brush to roughly brush the colors on the white base color of the nail to mimic the print of the fabric. I also took the bright green color from the print and used it to add a pop of color at the base of the nail. I'm actually really pleased with how they turned out!

Vote HERE! :) 

(I'd love it if you vote for me!! lol) 

Don't forget, you can vote once per day!! :)

 

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper
Blue: Pure Ice French Kiss
Turquoise: Zoya Robyn

Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite

So what do you think?  Did I do a good job interpreting the fashion? If you think so,

VOTE HERE!! :)

(You can vote EVERY DAY!!)

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of Reader Nail Art Week!

There has been some confusion that I'd like to clear up.

Submission Guidelines:

• Must be no larger than 1000 pixels wide
• Can be any theme, from your blog, etc. They do not need to be new designs for this contest. (but it'd be cool, right?)
• International entries are welcome!
• Only one submission per day will be accepted. Please send your entries each day to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com
• Have fun!
• If possible, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT use cell phone pictures or blurry pictures. I will no longer accept them.
• If you were inspired by another artist's design, please credit them in your inspiration blurb.(credit by blog name, not 'Google Images')

OK, now that the not fun stuff is over, lets get to those nails!  (Check them out after the jump!)

Moonicure Monday - Don't Be a Boob!

Hey there! Today's manicure base color is–get this–PINK. Yeah, I'm feeling alright, I just felt like it was an appropriate color for this one. ;) Looking at my nails today brings out the 12-year-old boy in me, and I giggle every time. This manicure is my twist on two things: a half-moon manicure AND a BCA (Breast Cancer Awareness) manicure. The half-moon lends itself perfectly to a boob manicure, don't you think? I'm so immature. :-D BOOBIES!!

I used:

Hot Pink: Zoya Kimber

Flesh tones:
Zoya Avery
Zoya Flowie
Zoya Dea
MAC In the Buff
MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious
American Apparel Rose Bowl


Basecoat: Cult Nails Get it On
Topcoat:  Seche Vite


What kind of bees make milk?  

Boob-ies!! :D

Reader Nail Art Week - Day 1

Hi all! Today is the first day of Reader Nail Art week! :)  Today's entries include some super cool nails, some cute nails, and some creepy nails perfect for Halloween!! Great work ladies!

Check out the reader submissions below and their inspiration in their own words! :)

:)

Blue & Taupe Tribal nails - Naomi H. of http://www.bellezzabee.com

My inspiration for this piece was tribal nail art. I was doing this for the 31 days nail art challenge and I didn't want to to anything like the regular tribal prints. I just started off with a taupe colour literally called The Taupe from NYX cosmetics and just freehand it from there. Using acrylic paints the design just happened as I was painting. At first I thought it looked awful but i was not going to start off so I decided to make it work but adding on more stuff and poof out came this gorgeous design which i am truly proud of.




Pandamonium - Hannah M. of http://doodlenails.blogspot.co.uk

Inspired by cotton buds, I thought when dipped in polish they'd probably be fuzzy like ears!
 



M&M - Sarah W. of http://trymyhand.blogspot.fr

Obviously (as you can probably tell by the photo), the inspiration was M&M's, the peanut kind, again, obviously !

Cat Claws - Elisabeth H.

I got inspired by my black cat "frodo", when I picked up his "nails?" from the carpet and I wanted to make a nail art with this :-)

Snow White - Heather E.

Disney Princess Inspired Nails

Dotticure - Kellyne W. of http://www.lightwellnails.com

My inspiration was that I had a bunch of new butter LONDON polishes, and I like the way the colors contrast together.

Zombie - Delainie G. of http://www.deespolish.com

These are nails inspired by your "I'm Going To Let It Slide" nails/tutorial. I used the idea to create what my nails would look like if I were a zombie.  (TDN NOTE: I ♥ the dirt, it really adds to the zombie effect!>

Toy Story - Lina P. of http://www.delicuoslife.blogspot.com

Toy Story nail art, my inspiration, the classic Toy Story cloud background and a funny character, the little green alien toy.

Floral Dress - Fiona M.

I pretty much just based my nails on my senior sail dress since it was the reason why I was painting them haha! The two accent nails are painted to match the flower design/colours on my dress (:
 

Keep those submissions coming! Anything goes, there is no theme, no time limit on how old they can be! International submissions are eligible too! :D