Sunday, January 20, 2013

French Glitter Tips

Hello my nail friends!!! I hope the New Year has been a good one so far!! I know I've been busy, especially with exams rapidly approaching this week...

So first off, if you haven't already, please vote in my New Year's poll!! I promise it'll only take a second :)
Click here to take the poll

Now, for today's post!

 I finally decided to try out my French Glitter Tip kit (see my Christmas post for more details :). And I have to say, I LOVE IT!!!!! Just take a look at that blue glitter on my tips!!! It's super gorgeous, and comes in 4 other glitter colors (multi, magenta, white, and silver).
The kit itself was really easy to use too which was nice. After applying my base color (and letting it dry THOROUGHLY) I put on the "stickers" included in the kit; then you paint clear polish on the tip and dip it in glitter. Once that has dried, I added a few top coats to keep the glitter on.
A word of warning though, the glitter GETS. EVERYWHERE. Seriously, I found sparkles on the opposite end of the table where I had been working; I hadn't even brought my stuff to that side. And even though I did this mani yesterday, I still found sparkles at dinner tonight. Not that glitter is such a bad thing. LOL :)
Just look at that sparkle on the pinky!!!! Gah, I can't get enough!!!!

Finally, I wanted to share with you all a great giveaway I just found on Set in Lacquer which is a fabulous blog!!! Be sure to follow her and check out the giveaway. Here's the link: http://www.setinlacquer.com/2013/01/barielle-giveaway-four-winners.html

Thanks for reading!!!!

:) Trendy Tips :)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Best of 2012

Well this year has been a great one, considering it's the first year of my blog!!! I think things have gone well so far, and a big thank you to all my followers and new nail buddies!! You guys are great!!

So to commemorate, I've put together a Best of post. There are various "Best _" awards which I have given to different posts. But enough talking, and on with the nails!!!

UPDATE- 1/3/13: I know that the poll has not been working right, but I got it fixed, so please vote!!! (see the bottom of this post)

Best- Toes:
These adorable ladybug toes were definitely my favorite pedicure design of 2012!!!  To get an easy tutorial for these toes (or you could even make it into a manicure for summer!!) check out the post here.

Best- Stamping:
I actually haven't done too much stamping on this blog yet, but these orange nails were one of my best designs yet!! For a stamping tutorial, click here.

Best- New Technique:
Now I must say, while I did LOVE these icy ombre nails, I don't think they were my absolute favorite new technique. However, my first choice is actually my favorite mani for the year, so I decided to honor these (I mean, they were in 2nd place anyway :). Keep reading to see my favorite design of all!! Instructions for creating an ombre manicure can be found here.

Best- Halloween Design:
I REALLY loved these Frankenstein nails!! I just thought they were so cute, and the bright green and black were such a great color combo!! And not to brag, but these were definitely a favorite at my school! :)

Best- Swatch:
Do you recognize these?? LOL :) (And if you don't, just take a look at my previous post). I think this is one of my favorite polishes ever!!! Can you tell I like glitter? This also commemorates a very important moment in Polished history: my 1st GLITTER BOMB!!!! Okay, enough now... :)

Best- Simple Design:
I loved these Chanel nails so much!!! It was so easy to create as well, but it's a really classy and elegant design. The pearl strings were made with a dotting tool, and I freehanded the logo. My mom says that this is one of her favorite designs too. :)

Best- Tape Manicure:
We all know I love tape, but it wasn't hard to pick my favorite design!!!! While these nails remind me a lot of Ancient Greece, they looked great with my Robin Hood Halloween costume!! Check out this link for the tutorial.

Best- 3D Nails:
I thought this design was so pretty, but it's sad as it was created for the terrible tragedy in Newtown, CT. The white is to promote peace and nonviolence. I chose my white, 3D nail art flowers which are so cute and iridescent. I definitely adored this design, although the reason for it was so terrible.

Best- Cute Manicure:
The pastel colors did not show up the greatest in pictures, but I thought these little cupcakes were just too cute!!! My favorite part- the cherries and sprinkles (I used Bedazzled for the sprinkles :)!!!!

Best- Freehanding:

Now this manicure is definitely a close second for my favorite manicure of all!!! This Apollo 11 design was part of the Time Warp Challenge I did earlier in the year; the daily theme was a historical event, so I chose the moon landing. On my nails I painted: "1 small step for man, 1 giant leap for mankind", the Apollo spacecraft, an "11", the earth, and the American flag on the moon. Now I know the last photo doesn't show too much freehanding; it's predominately sponging with some freehanded stars; I just wanted you to get the whole look because I love it so much. :)

FAVORITE Mani of the Year:

Drumroll please...
Yes, I did make this photo extra large on purpose. :) And that's because it's my favorite!! If you hadn't seen this yet, I did this water marble for Labor Day (the post and tutorial can be found here). I just thought that the color combo was perfect, especially for a Patriotic holiday, and it was a major shock to have my first water marble turn out so well (in my opinion, that is :). My pictures turned out nicely as well (which does not always happen), and I love the sidewalk background. In short I LOVE THIS MANICURE!!!!!!

I think that's a wrap of 2012, now bring on the New Year!!!

Thanks so much!!
:) Trendy Tips :)

And finally, I have a poll for you all to see what you'd like me to do more of on this blog in the New Year. Please vote, I plan to listen to the results!!!
Click here to take survey

New Year's Nails

Take a look at these nails I wore last night for a New Year's Eve dinner at my friends' house...

 Can you say GLITTER BOMB? Good, because that's pretty much all that you need to know about Claire's "Bedazzled." It even has a great name too... :)
 Hahahaha, did you really think I would leave it at that? Of course not!!! :) The glitter colors are a little hard to see in the pictures, but it's really such a gorgeous polish!! There are bright pink, red, silver, green, and orange glitter bits. There are primarily circle glitters, ranging in different sizes.
And for being a less expensive polish, Bedazzled went on really well too!! Above I have two coats; one is doable, but I just had to layer it up to its full glittery goodness. I did spread the glitter a little bit to make it even, but overall, this polish is great!!!

Oh, and the base color is a gorgeous blue from my Ciate calendar, and it's called "Headliner."

Still planning my Best of post... But have a Happy 2013!!!!

ღ Trendy Tips