"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Recreation

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! And your Halloween holiday if you celebrate. I have the last of my posts for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge and what will most likely be my last Halloween design of the year. Today is recreation.

Thick oozing blood. Not exactly as I imagined, but I still like it. Looking at them in person, they look like I've been scratching at something containing blood. Blood drips are all over the internet, so I do not have one particular person to credit. For my dripping blood, I used Essie Blood Curdling, a little Blood Curdling plus black mixed together, and black. 

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Trick or Treat

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! One day closer to Halloween! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is treat or treat.

When I think of trick or treating, candy comes to mind first. And the first Halloween candy I think of is always candy corn. So I decided on a candy corn gradient. Fun, easy, and just screams candy corn.

I started with a coat of Pure Ice Super Star! as my white base. Then I painted wide stripes of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, NYC Times Square Tangerine, and Super Star! onto a makeup sponge. Gradients are one of the easiest nail art techniques. The only hard part is the cleanup if you end up with too much polish on your skin.

I looked yesterday at some of my nail art and realized that an Asian site had stolen one of my images. They very badly tried to erase my watermark and then added their own. I've been considering adding a watermark  closer to the nail, something that cannot be cropped out and is hard to photoshop out. Let me know what you think of the new watermark.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Graveyard

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! Halloween is almost here! The next three days including today, I will have themed nail art to share.

What says graveyard more than headstones? I started off with one coat of Julep Dendrie, a light gray creme. I only own one gray, so I did a little mixing. I mixed up two shades of gray using black and white. One slightly darker than Dendrie and the other almost black. I sponged on the lighter shade to give my nails a stone look. The darker shade became my background/shadow. The grass is Pure Ice Wild Thing and Ulta The Jungle Look. Finally, I wrote RIP with black and a small dotting tool.

Ghoulie Girl

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! I have some lovely news for anyone who likes OPI. Ulta has some polishes from the Muppets Collection along with a few others. Twelve in total priced at 2 for $12.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl are an adorable ghost design. Orange and white ghosts against a black background. I've worn this brand of strips before and I always love them. Easy to apply and they wear like real polish. They claim to last up to ten days. I have never worn them that long. Simply because I cannot go ten days without changing my polish. The longest I've worn them is four days. No tip wear, no chipping. I like to add top coat (and did here), but you can wear them without top coat. I have before.

Cat's Eyes

I hope you are enjoying your Saturday!

Cat's Eyes designs are everywhere! And I love it! For mine, I followed a tutorial by Kayla Shevonne. I used Beauty UK Black, Pure Ice Wild Thing, Wet n Wild The Gold and the Beautiful, and white acrylic paint. It is a very easy look to achieve, especially following Kayla's tutorial.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Witches

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Its a little late in the day, but I finally have my post for the This Is Halloween Challenge. Today is witches.

As soon as it all came together, I realized the black and purple look random. But I still like it. For half of my fingers, I used two coats of Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, otherwise known as Scandalous. Facets of Fuchsia was released in a limited edition collection. When they decided to make it a core color, they changed the name. So if you decide to purchase it now, look for Scandalous.

The rest of my finger got one coat of Zoya Skylar. Then I sponged on Wet n Wild Saved by the Blue to give my sky some dimension and depth. On my index finger, I drew grass with Pure Ice Wild Thing and Ulta The Jungle Look. On my ring finger, I drew a glowing moon with Sinful Colors Unicorn. Finally I stamped on a cat and witch with Sinful Colors Black on Black and plate BM13.

A Glowing Pumpkin Tangled in My Web

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday! I have an awesome combination to show you today. Plus, I finally found a setting on my camera that allows me to capture the light from glow in the dark polish. YAY! In case you are having trouble with your camera, I managed to do it with the setting for candlelight.

Check out how bright the polish is in the dark. Very noticeable! For this glowing combination, I started with a coat of white polish (Pure Ice Super Star!). I tried the polish on its own earlier in the month. Incredibly sheer. I took pictures, but didn't want to post them. I wanted to try layering it over a creme. The picture below is five to six coats and you can still see visible nail line.

I love the jelly finish it has when used alone, but it was way too sheer. Not to mention too thick after six coats. I want to experiment with different colors and see if I can find something that lets it keep the jelly appearance, but be opaque.

Back to my layering combo... I started with white then painted on two coats of Pumpkin Polish Orange. I topped it off with a layer of Wet n Wild Tangled in My Web. All of the polishes have great application, other than the sheerness of the pumpkin polish.

Pumpkin polishes can be found only at Rite-aid during this time of year. Tangled in My Web is from last fall's Wet n Wild On the Prowl Collection. There should be a few bottles to be found online.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! Today, I have some cute/creepy spiders to show you.

Wacky Laki did the cutest spiders and I knew I needed to have them on my fingers. I started with two coats of Julep Dendrie, a light gray creme. With a nail art brush and black, I drew on half moons then legs. Finally, red eyes and black pupils with Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar.

A Spider and His Web

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! I was not ready to take off my Halloween gradient just yet, but wanted to add something extra. So I spruced it up with a little Halloween nail art.

I saw an adorable design on Pinterest by Manicure Mania that I wanted to recreate over my gradient. So I got out a nail art brush, black acrylic paint, and a couple of rhinestones. It was fairly easy to recreate, though my lines are not nearly as crisp as hers. I still like it though.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Gradient

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge to share with you. Today is gradient. 

I wanted something without orange or black, but still Halloween-ish. So I went with green and purple. After   base coat of white, I sponged on a gradient of Kleancolor Neon Green and Beauty UK Electric Purple. Little more sheer than I wanted, but I still like it.

Halloween Stamping

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday! Today I have a fun Halloween design to show you.

Each nail is different and the only theme is Halloween. I spent time cleaning up, but the camera picked up green I did not see. I used Nfu-Oh NFU JS18 and Wet n Wild Night Prowl. My stamping polishes were Sinful Colors Black on Black, Pure Ice Super Star!, Wet n Wild Times Square Tangerine, Ulta The Jungle Look, and Julep Demi. I used several different stamping plates. N.Nail m80 (crow), N.Nail m39 (blood drips), BM-301 (bat in blood drip), and BM-305 (house).

Sally Hansen Spun for You with Spiders

I hope you are enjoying your Saturday! If you follow my Facebook page then you know I'm currently in Baton Rouge to see friends. Among the normal things we're doing, we are also going to Gate, a huge Halloween haunted house. So I wanted a themed manicure.

I spiced up Sally Hansen Polish Strips in Spun on You with a little stamping. Using Sinful Colors Black on Black and plate BM13, I stamped spiders on my ring finger and thumb. The strips are easy to apply. This set is left over from last year. So as long as they stay sealed in original packing, they will last. Very good to know because I have another set from last year as well.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Bats

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge is here. Today is bats.

I took inspiration from a gorgeous design done by Macabre Manicures. For my gradient background, I started with Sally Hansen Diamond as a base. Then sponged Sinful Colors Midnight Blue heavily on the tips and lighter as I went almost all the way to the cuticle. I love how little bits of the holo show through the blue. Then with Sinful Colors Black on Black, plate BM13, and KKCenterHK plate m80, I stamped on two different bat images.

Wet n Wild Night Prowl

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday!

Wet n Wild Night Prowl is a black jelly filled with small purple glitter. I am loving black polishes filled with glitter or shimmer. Its dark, but fun at the same time. Plus, I think its a bit less harsh with fair skin. The application with Night Prowl is great. Completely opaque in two coats.

Born Pretty Store Dried Flowers Manicure and Review

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! I was contacted by Daisy from the Born Pretty Store to review a product for them. I chose the dried flowers. I have been dying to try dried flowers in a manicure for a long time.

Each order contains twelve different flowers, each in small plastic containers. The quantities vary slightly; however, there should be at least five of the small flowers and two of the large cluster flowers. Plenty to do more than one manicure.

I decided on pairing the large yellow cluster flower with Finger Paints Where Art Renoir?. The yellow really pops against the black backdrop. The flowers are very easy to apply, much easier than I expected. They are also sturdier than I anticipated, so I had no issues with crumbling.

I went with accent fingers since this was my first experience with dried flowers. After painting my nails and letting them dry, I used tweezers to pick up one of the flowers. It was large enough to use for two fingers, so I carefully cut it in half through the middle. Each half stayed intact. I painted on a thin coat of clear polish before placing a flower half on my nail. They were easy to press down. I let it set for a minute before adding one coat of top coat. Once that was completely dry, I added another coat to make it smoother.

Application was easy and the flowers stay on very well after top coat. I took a shower, washed my hands several times, and went to work without them budging at all. If you love dried flowers or want to try them, you will definitely enjoy using these.

Dried Flowers (Item ID: 129) retail for $6.08 at Born Pretty Store, and they offer free shipping worldwide.

Daisy even gave me a code to share with all of you for 5% off your purchase. AHL91

Beauty UK Midnight Minx

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! The polish I'm showing you today does not have a name. It came in the Beauty UK Midnight Minx set. I thought it was Voodoo until I uploaded pictures. So instead it will simple be called Maroon.

Beauty UK Maroon is a light maroon with a gorgeous shimmer. It flashes gold, pink, and copper. The application is perfection and opaque in two coats. I'm in love with the shimmer in this!

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Zombies

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is zombies. I'm not a big fan of zombies, but deciding on a design was fun.

This design was inspired by The Daily Nail. Her skin seems to be sliding off and bunching up. Mine is melting off in blobs. I started with one coat of Julep Molly. When it was completely dry, I added two coats of Julep Alyson. I wish I had a nude closer to my own skin color. I think it would have made it creepier looking. When it was beginning to dry but still tacky, I used my finger to gently push the nude polish toward the tip of my nail. For the oozing globby blood, I used Julep Demi and Essie Blood Curdling. To give the blood a nice shine but keep the glob look, I dabbed on Gelous with a nail art brush. Finally for depth, I smudged on Barielle Back to Nature to give the flesh some dimension. I cleaned up a little, but I think leaving it unperfect made it more fitting for zombie nails.