There's No Place Like Home

Contest update:

Since several international folks have commented asking if they are eligible, the answer is YES!! Because it took me a bit to get back to you, the contest deadline has been extended until 11:59 PM Pacific time on August 11, 2010.

Remember, you MUST send a PICTURE of your nail art

to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com with your Google ID to be eligible, as well as comment on the original contest post. If you could, I would really appreciate it if you explained your design! :)

New prizes have been added by a wonderful reader, so check it out for the new prizes- and where you can buy more of her stuff!!!

Get painting!!

-Melissa

JAW-breaker

Tonight I was invited to a friend's house to participate in some kick-ass Shark Week festivities, namely, drinking games. I'm not entirely sure what Shark Week drinking games entail, but I probably won't participate, since I'm a hopeless lightweight. :-D It still should be fun with all the others getting silly. :-D Today I did another Shark Week nail design in honor of the events tonight! :) Poor unsuspecting swimmers.

I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base, with a mixture of Orly Snowcone and Orly Cosmic FX Lunar Eclipse for the water. For the seagulls, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud, which I also used for the shark's teeth and lower part of its body. For the rest of the shark body, I used American Apparel Factory Grey, then American Apparel Hassid for the eye, and American Apparel Rose Bowl for the gums. For the swimmers' bodies, I used American Apparel Rose Bowl mixed with American Apparel California Trooper, with American Apparel Manila for the blonde hair, and Essie Foot Loose for the shorts on the swimming guy. :) For the waves and splashes, I either mixed Orly Snowcone with Orly Cosmic FX Lunar Eclipse for the darker waves, or Orly Snowcone with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the splashes. Dabbed a little Milani 3-D Holographic Cyberspace in a few places in the water for sparkle and shimmers of reflection on the surface. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

It's Cosmic!

Orly has a new line of polishes out that are, let's face it, amazingtastical. Seriously. If I could, I would have this nail polish's babies...and I don't even want babies. These polishes change with every angle you look at them, and I have nothing like them in my collection. I chose to use one of my favorites of the collection on my nails today, its pretty much what MAC Blue Brown pigment would look like as a polish and threw in a bunch of hot pink shimmer too. I didn't expect it to be my favorite, but it definitely is. This isn't the first nail art I tried tonight though, I picked up Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday today and tried to figure out a design that I could do for today, but nothing looked good, and now it looks like a stripper exploded on the front of me, and on my jeans especially, it's glitter EVERYWHERE for me. I'll try to figure out something with that polish in the next couple of days because it's super sparkle city. Anyway, to the nails!

Side view to show some of the shimmer in the polish:

I used Orly Cosmic FX Galaxy Girl as a base, then used China Glaze DV8 with Bundle Monster plate BM06 for the design, then little turquoise gems I found at Michaels in corner of the cuticle end of the nail. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

NO H8.

In 2008, a Proposition was passed in California that put a ban on same-sex marriages. Today, that ban was overturned by US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, giving the right to same-sex couples to marry. I may offend some people by saying this, but frankly, I don't care because It's ABOUT DAMN TIME. No one should have their rights limited by the government in regards to who they love. It DOESN'T take away from the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, it isn't gross, or wrong, it doesn't affect anyone but the couple that wants to marry. I'm excited that people that love each other can get married now- legally! Obviously there will be appeals, but for now, there is justice, and that rocks.

NO H8!!

I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base for all nails, then used Nubar Sexy Red, Zoya Jancyn, American Apparel Manila, CND Green Scene, CND Anchor Blue, and CND Eclectic Purple for the rainbow. For the NO H8 logo, I used American Apparel Hassid for the black, and Nubar Sexy Red for the red. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

That Holo's Super, Man.

For today, I decided that a marble design was in order. I wanted to use a mixture of some of my all-time favorite polishes, the China Glaze OMG collection, and American Apparel Hassid, of course. I LOVE the way that the OMG collection marbles, and the colors remind me of one of the most delicious ice cream flavors of my childhood...SUPERMAN!!! For those of you who have not experienced Superman ice cream, it's a marbled mixture of red, blue, and yellow ice creams, hence the name. The flavors are much argued upon, but the red is generally a fruity flavor, the yellow is either vanilla or lemon, and the blue? well, it can just be described as...BLUE. :-D It's been years and years since I've had it. (and I must say I'm rather craving it now...I wonder if they have it out here in Vegas, I hear it's a Michigan thing) Summer faces of children are adorned with blue lips...and shirts...and shorts... and shoes...and the pavement below....you get the idea. Anyway, to the nails... the thumb has a tiny bit of black where the holo bubbled and popped when it dried.

I used American Apparel Hassid as a base, with China Glaze OMG, China Glaze DV8, China Glaze L8R G8R, China Glaze IDK, and China Glaze TMI marbled over it. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat. I used the Hassid as a base because it gave a different feel to the holographic polishes. I'm glad I did, come to think of it, it looks a little like an oil slick, too.

I REALLY want Superman ice cream now, but does Las Vegas have ice cream shops? No, just frozen yogurt stores... *sigh* Anyone from Michigan wanna FedEx me a cone? :-P

Great Form-ica!

Every Monday night, I am part of a bowling league here in Vegas, I was talked into joining a bunch of my old co-workers for a 10-week league, which ending up REALLY being 17 weeks. I'm giving you the evil eye, Guererro. Anyway, the league has actually been a blast, and I've met a bunch of people that are NORMAL, which is exceptionally hard to find in Las Vegas. John, I PROMISE that I'll make your damn Snickerdoodles, maybe next week. :-P Anyway, today's nails are bowling themed, they actually match the formica tops at the bowling alley where the league is! :)

The formica top:

My nails on the table (don't mind the cry cuticles, they were screaming for lotion after an hour or so of bowling):

The nails:

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with American Apparel Factory Grey sponged over it to make the background texture. For the line art of the pins and balls, I used Orly Snowcone for the blue, Massini Power Pack for the pink, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Spring Green for the green. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

IT'S SHARK WEEK!!

In honor of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, I decided to do shark nails!! I think my friend Mike is gonna LOVE these...he is a HUGE shark nerd. For his birthday one year, my friend Jacquie and I made him a Shark Attack scene Jell-O Shot. In a 5 gallon fish tank. With 30 boxes of Jell-O...and LOTS and LOTS of booze. We had sharks in it, and gummy fish torn in half with streams of Kool-aid 'blood' seeping up through a crack we tore in the Jell-O after it set. (which took about 9,000 years) The shark on my middle finger is tearing a chunk out of my flesh, hence the blood. :-D

I used Milani Truth or Bare as a base, American Apparel Factory Grey for the grey part of the shark, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the white part and the teeth, American Apparel Hassid for the eye and gills, then American Apparel Rose Bowl for the gums. For the blood, I used A Beautiful Life Poison. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

DUH-DUH. DUH-DUH DUH-DUH. DUH-DUH DUH-DUH DUH-DUH DUH-DUH DUH-DUH DUH-DUH. :-D

The Jell-O Shot. :-D  The boys claimed that they had it for breakfast, and ate it for a week. :-D (we used a mix of blue jell-o and island pineapple jell-o to make the water color, then mixed with vodka, rum, and triple sec. :-D