China Glaze - When Stars Collide

Hello dear readers!

Today, I'm going to show you swatches of China Glaze - When Stars Collide. I wore this color last month but couldn't post it because I wanted to post Halloween manicures... so here it is.

 When Stars Collide is a maroon color holographic nail polish. It was part of the China Glaze Hologlam collection.

Here you can see the holographic shine. The holo effect is not as strong as on previous collections but I like the subtle metallic finish.

I experienced a bit of difficulty in application such as bald spots and dragging when I applied a 2nd coat. Not too bad but still, not a perfect application.

Here I posted swatches for CG Strap on your Moonboots, another nail polish from the hologlam collection.

What do you think of this nail polish?

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

2x1 Día de Muertos Nail Art

Hello dear readers!

Today I will be showing you two different Día de muertos (Day of the dead) nail art in the same post ;)
I wanted to try a more traditional one and a simpler one, but with a similar theme.

More detailed pictures and details below....

As I wrote on my día de muertos post from last year, Nov. 1st (children) and Nov. 2nd (adults) are days for Mexicans to remember our loved ones who are no longer with us. We prepare an altar with elements such as fruits, food, and other elements that are supposed to guide the spirit of our loved one to us and then back to the afterlife.

(A  traditional día de muertos altar)

Now, this theme translated to nail art...

*I added the dead lovers as the center of this nail art as a symbol of love after death. 

Absence does not mean forgetting.

There will always be a very special place in our hearts for those who have gone before us.

For this manicure, I started with China Glaze - Howl you Doin' as the base. Then, I stamped the lover's skeletons, papel picado (cut paper) pattern, crosses and candles from HD C and HD D plates.

I painted the skeletons using the stamping decal technique.

On my thumb, I applied a combination of stamping sugar skulls and added flower stickers for extra decoration.

*In Mexico, calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls) are given as a treat for this celebration or as part of the altar. When given to a friend or relative, the name of the receiver is usually written on the skulls forehead. 

Now, the 2nd nail art theme is death as part of life itself.

It is a fact that many people don't like to think about because it may sound gruesome or sad.

The day we are born, we have started a journey that will finish with death.

A part of a dancing skeleton stamped on my nail...

The skeleton is probably mocking us, saying "Cómo me ves, te verás"

(The way you see me now, sooner or later you will look like me).

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I hope you liked any of these two nail art that I made for this very special post.

I had to take some time to write something meaningful for this day because this festivity is very close to my heart. So, if you took your time to read through this post, I hope you've learned a little bit about día de muertos.

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Forever 21 - Black Glam Sand Lacquer Textured Nail Polish

Hello dear readers!

As I promised on my last post, here are the swatches for Black Glam, one of the textured nail polishes by Forever 21. (Click here to see their entire line of textured nail polishes)

As you can see, Black Glam is not black, but a dark purple with  multi-color microglitter (I can see some copper, yellow, pink,purple and a bit of green) It's a bit hard to distinguish due to the dark base.

(All pictures can be enlarged)

The opacity of this nail polish is good. I only needed 2 coats to get this result.

I really like sandy texture. I own some sand finish nail polish from other brands, but this is the 1st time that I actually try it on my nails. I couldn't stop touching them. :)

Also, the formula was easy to work with. No bald spots or dragging at all.

*I received a question on my previous post about how easy was to remove this type of nail polish.

I think it's just the same as any other glitter nail polish. If you use the cotton and aluminum foil method, it makes this process so much easier ;)

 

What do you think of this nail color?

How about the textured nail polish trend?

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Challenge: Tone-on-Tone Stamping

Hello dear readers!

I did another manicure for FB group AiS. For Sunday September 1st, the theme of the challenge was tone-on tone which was pretty easy. I chose gray tones for this manicure because it's one of my favorite colors that I rarely get to wear.

I started with China Glaze - Pelican Grey as the base...

Then, I applied a layer of Spectraflair topcoat.

After that, I stamped a full nail design from plate XL M using Kleancolor - Charcoal for stamping.

(Kleancolor Charcoal doesn't work as a nail polish at all, takes ages to dry or slides off your nail...other than that... for stamping, it works flawlessly) ;)

Extra pic :)

 What do you think of this nail art?

As always...

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

American Apparel - Palm Springs

Hello dear readers!

I want to show you swatches of Palm Springs, a nail polish by American Apparel.

Palm springs is a peachy nude color with creme finish. The application was easy, though it was slightly streaky. The opacity of the formula made it easy to even it out by the second coat. The only thing I was not so happy about this nail polish was the drying time. It took longer even after applying Out the Door fast dry top coat.

Do you like the mannequin finish this type of nail polish color gives to nails?

Tomorrow This Wednesday, I'll show you the stamping nail art I did on top of this nail polish ;)

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Tiger Print Nail Art

Hello dear readers!

This time I just did a simple tiger print on my nails... I'm not into animal prints... but I used a gold nail polish that was calling for something wild and I thought, why not?

I started with a nail polish by Icing called Golden Rule.

It is a gold color with foil finish and holographic micro glitter.

*You can see a 15 sec. video swatch of this nail polish here.

I stamped the tiger print with Kleancolor black using stamping plate QA25 

(Available for purchase in my online store)

As I said previously, looks a bit too wild for my taste especially on this nail lenght... Rawr!! But it's always good to try something different...

What do you think of this design? Too wild? :)

♥♥Thank you for reading♥♥

Nail Art Remake: Ice Cream and Candy Nails & Tutorial

Hello dear readers!

This time I decided to do an improved version of a nail art from last year (see it here).

The nail art you see now was what I had in mind originally, but 1yr. ago, I was either too busy or too lazy to do all the steps...

(↓ Tutorial for this nail art below ↓)

1.Once your nails are prepped with a basecoat, start by applying 1 or 2 layers of white nail polish. 

This is only the base for the pastel colors to look nice & bright.

 

2. Apply lines or dots of different pastel colors onto waxed paper, plastic or aluminum foil.

3.Using a nail stamper press it on top of the nail colors, twisting slightly so that the colors mix up a little bit. You will see the colors transferring to the stamper and ready to apply on your nails.

*You can also paint the pastel color lines directly on your nails with your nail polish brush, whichever is easier for you.

4. Stamp the colors from the stamper onto each nail.(Or paint each color with a nail polish brush). Let it dry.

Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect, it doesn't have to be ;)

My nails look like Easter eggs :D

5. Apply one coat of white crackle nail polish and let it dry to get the cracking effect. Apply clear topcoat to smooth out the nail surface and let dry.

6. I used Konad's Q1 stamping plate and stamped the candy designs on my nails using Kleancolor black. You can use any other stamp plate design of your choice.

*There are other options for this nail art such as applying nail art stickers or by drawing freehand designs on your nails ;)

I hope you like this nail art tutorial and that it can be useful to you ;)

Which version do you like better? Last year's or this one?

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

My 1st Attemp at Water Marble Nail Art

Hello dear readers!

Today, I'm excited to show you my first attempt at water marbling :) I know I'm years too late to try this trend. In my case, this was not as easy as it seems... you have to choose the right nail polishes otherwise, you'll end up with a blob of polish on the bottom of the cup of water... it happened to to me before :'( and for this reason, I thought trying more would be a waste of time and precious nail polish.

I have to admit that I love to watch water marble YouTube videos (I find them relaxing for some strange reason). The whole process is fascinating and the end results amazing. I know this manicure is not spectacular as many other water marbles out there... but, bear with me... it's only my 1st attempt ;)

For this manicure, I used three China Glaze nail polishes from the Avant Garden collection: Passion for Petals, Fancy Pants and Dandy Lyin' Around. The base of this manicure is Passion for Petals as well. I found that most China Glaze nail polishes are good for water marbling.

As you can see, the swirls of nail polish are not as much. This is because I was experimenting and I just added a few drops of each color in case I failed... but in the end, I really like the randomness of the lines.

Have you tried water marbling? What do you think of my first attempt?

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

Halloween Pumpkin Nail Art and Tutorial

Hello dear readers!

Today I decided to do a freehand nail art featuring a Halloween design. (Last year's Halloween nail art here)

This time, Halloween pumpkins were my inspiration.

Below you will see step by step pictures and instructions on how I did this nail art.

First, I painted my nails using a dark purple nail polish. I used Orly's Fowl Play. 

Using an orange color nail polish (or acrylic paint), paint the tip of your nails making semicircular edges at the top of the design. The nail polish I used is Ulta - Sun of a Gun.

With a metallic or glittery nail polish paint the outline of the pumpkin. I used Kleancolor - Metallic Orange.

Now, paint the faces of the pumkins. The facial expressions are up to you ;)

Paint stems and leaves on the top of the pumpkins. I used Kleancolor -  Metallic Green.

This step is optional: you can add any glitter, dots, etc... I painted some candies on the accent nails using to finish the design. I added wrapped candies on the thumb and candy corns on my ring finger nail.

Finished!

I hope you liked this nail art. You still have time do it yourself for this Halloween ;)

♥ ♥Thank you for reading♥ ♥