Polished

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Hiatus- and Apology

Well hello there everyone!!! (No, I have not died, in case you were wondering) I know I've been absent for forever, and yes, it's terrible. And unfortunately, the "news" I have to share with you today isn't all that great... :/ Anyway, I've been extremely busy at school (as I'm sure you guessed by now) and have not had the energy or the time to do some nail painting.

For this reason, I am announcing an official hiatus for another couple weeks (give or take). Hopefully though, things should be winding down on my schedule in the next week, and then I hope to get back to regular posting about 1x a week.

Until then, feel free to look back through my older posts and take a look at what you like. And be sure to leave comments!!! Even though I'm busy, I still read every single one, and I really appreciate hearing what you guys have to say!

UPDATE: 2/25/13 Hey guys!!! In the meantime, check out this awesome giveaway hosted by Plump and Polished!!! She has a fabulous blog and is giving away some fabulous prizes to celebrate reaching 1,000 followers. Be sure to check it out, enter, and follower her blog!!! Here's the link: http://plumpandpolished.blogspot.com/2013/02/plump-and-polisheds-1000-follower.html

UPDATE: 3/2/13 Hello, again!!! I have yet another giveaway to share with you all!!! It can be found on The Nail Junkie at this link: http://the-nail-junkie.blogspot.com/2013/02/official-release-and-giveaway-my-new-st.html. The prize is awesome too; three handmade polishes which are absolutely perfect for St. Patrick's day!!! Be sure to check it out and enter, as well as follow the blog!!!!

TTYL!!
:) Trendy Tips :)

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 ღ

Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas Presents (pic heavy!)

Whew! What a holiday! I finally found some free time to share my favorite nail-related presents from this Christmas. Be warned, there's lots of pictures!! :)

Definitely one of my favorites was this Mini Mani Month nail calendar from Ciate. Isn't the packaging just so cute? There 24 little doors to open, each with a nail polish inside (see above, right). The "doors" even have cute little facts, tips, and ideas as seen to the left. Another awesome thing, there's four bottles of caviar pearls (see left)!! The caviar pearls are basically colorful and sparkly little beads that are poured onto wet nails for a unique 3D manicure. I will probably be doing that soon to show you all! :)

Next up, we have a 60 second hand scrub. You may not be able to see, but there are tiny sugar crystals in the formula which exfoliate your hands. After a little while of scrubbing this around on your hands, the sugar dissolves, and you begin to moisturize. Once you rinse it off, you are left with hands that look like they spent a day in the spa (I took that last bit off of the bottle itself, but it is true!! :)

What you see above is a really neat kit to make unique glitter French manicures. And I can't wait to try it out! You can see some examples on the box... Off to the right are the five included glitters, which look absolutely amazing!!! They must have come from sparkly heaven or something. :) Also, above the glitter pots is the included top/bonding coat. The stickers are in the box, and this is literally all that you need, unless you want a base color!! How convenient and cute!!

Last up, we have some Cina Nail Art stickers. I included two shots so that you could see both packs well... The hearts are really shiny and come in several colors: purple, pink (a few different shades), and yellow. The flowers are pink and purple with yellow and white accents. I can't wait to try these either; they really make nail art so simple!!

That wraps up my Christmas post, so I have a few questions for you all. Have you ever tried any of these products? If so, did you like them? What was your favorite Christmas present (does not have to do with nails :)?

I'll be planning a "Best of 2012" post- or something like that, so stay tuned! Have a Happy New Year!!!
♡ ♥ Trendy Tips ♡ ♥

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Nails (belated ;)

Well, I've obviously been way too busy... Not a single Christmas mani posted :/ So to make up for it, I have some pictures to share of the nails that I wore on Christmas Eve. They may have some slight tipwear as I took the pictures about three days later... :*)

The glitter actually looks great in these photos, and it was so pretty in person!! I originally had a red base and added a red glitter on top of that a couple days later. The two blended really nicely together, and I think I might wear it again sometime!

The red also went perfectly with my Christmas Eve outfit. Red is always such a pretty color for the holidays! It was a simple, easy, and quick design, yet it looks so elegant when it was finished.

And even though I had it on for days, it wore REALLY well!!! (and we're talking this is Christmastime- little cousins, present-opening, cooking, cleaning, changing into fancy outfits...)

The glitter polish was one of my Christmas presents; my parents got me a Ciate Mini Mani Month kit which has TWENTY-FOUR different nail polishes!!! Can you say 'heaven'?! My next post will have some of the different nail-related gifts that I got (prepare yourselves for LOTS of pictures :)!!

Colors used:
Base- Sally Hansen Salon Minis "red" (they're unnamed)
Glitter- Ciate Mini in Enchanted Rose (great name right? :)

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and will have a great, healthy, and blessed New Year!!!!

❅☃ Trendy Tips ❅☃
P.S. I was in a "Snowy" mood considering it snowed both Christmas Eve and yesterday (the 26th) here in Maryland. Unfortunately, rain and "warmer" weather got to the snow before it could really build up. :'(

Sunday, December 16, 2012

White Nails for Newtown

In lieu of the terrible tragedy in CT (an elementary school shooting where 26 people- 20 were kids- were killed, for those of you who don't live here in the US and haven't heard the news...), many nail bloggers have been creating white manicures to promote peace and commemorate the lives that were lost.

I know that most people posted yesterday, but I was very busy, and really wanted to participate. Here's my design.

Once again, I'm using my 3D nail flowers which I absolutely love! When I was thinking of a white design, they immediately came to mind.

I love the look of them all together with the plain white nails. A very simple, yet elegant and pretty design.

If only it weren't because of such a horrid event... I can't believe someone could be so cruel as to hurt innocent little children... The stories and pictures have been all over Facebook, and it's crazy to see. The only good I can find is that people are banding together. That's what this mani is all about; everyone needs to work together to make our home safer and more peaceful.

I just counted the flowers on my ring finger, and there were 19. I wish I had thought to squeeze on a 20th to remember the number of children...

I hope this terrible event will remind you of the importance of peace and the uselessness of violence! Be sure to spend some time with those you love...

And to the families affected in CT, our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with you... R.I.P. little ones, you're with God now!!!!

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White manis in honor of Peace, Non-Violence and Remembrance of the Innocent