Lame late witch nails

So yesterday was witch day in the halloween challenge I'm doing but I didn't exactly post yesterday.
I DID do my nails yesterday, just didn't get around to actually uploading, editing and publishing anything. Damn you, life...MUST you keep getting in the way of blogging?? And you think I could at least have a decent mani to post given my lateness, but nooooooo. I come straggling in with THIS crap:

My original plan for the witches prompt was to create a fun halloween-colored background and stamp the only witch image I have in my plate collection over top of it. However, since I had never attempted to use that plate before (it's from Bundle Monster's first generation of stamping plates), I had no idea the plate was not etched properly and therefore would NOT stamp the witch properly...so I gave up and reached for some lame witchy decals instead. 

I like to think the cute dotticure background redeems this crap mani but really I just hate the whole dang thing.

For this mani, I used:

Barry M Bright Purple as base

Sinful Colors Exotic Green 

Maybelline Orange Blazes

large & small dotting tool

Nail decals by Kiss

Gelous and Seche Vite topcoats

Lets hope that, since the next prompt is "freestyle Halloween," I can actually pull of something that doesn't suck. Til then, go join the Crumpet's Nail Tarts group on Facebook and go see lots of other much more competent witch-themed manicures! 

Halloween Challenge Day 3: Zombie Nails!!

We have arrived at day 3 of the Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween Nail Art Challenge 2012. Day 3 belongs to the zombies!! I have quite an affinity for the undead--what with the glazed over eyes staring into space, the drooling on oneself and the tendency to communicate with grunts and growls, zombies and I have lots in common. I, too, desire brains--not so much for eating but for thinking more clearly and remembering things (I'm convinced the only thing I have between my ears is empty space)...

Anyway, enough yammering and onto the nails:

inside under lamp with swirly eco bulb thingy

outdoors under overcast sky

Zombies--heart--brains....get it? Yea I know, my brilliance is awe-inspiring.

For this mani I used:

China Glaze Immortal as a base

Wet N Wild Black Creme

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Cherry Red

LA Colors pink nail art polish

Wet N Wild French White Creme

Tiny flat, angled nail art brush

Detail/lining brush

Dotting tool

Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween 2012 nail art challenge day 2: Black Cats!

Hello and welcome to the second post for the Halloween nail art challenge I have undertaken. Today's prompt was "black cats." My personal goal for this challenge is to baby-step my way into more free-hand nail art so, once again, I chose a simple design that I felt I could pull off with nothing but brushes and polish. Here's what my nails ended up looking like:

Yep, little peeking black kitties. I know they're not perfect, but at least they actually somewhat resemble cat heads, right? That's right people, set low goals and you'll never be disappointed. 

So, for this mani, I used China Glaze Surfin for Boys for my orange base. Then I busted out my trusty Wet N Wild black creme and a flat, angled nail art brush (picture a mini version of an ecotools eyeliner brush) to do the cats' heads. The eyes were done with a lime green LA Colors Art Deco striper polish and the pupils with a a short striper brush and WnW Black Creme again. 

 So far I am loving taking part in this challenge! As you can see below, the next prompt is ZOMBIES!! You know, I have a great affinity for the undead so I can't frickin wait!

challenge list image courtesy of Crumpet's Nail Tarts, aka the banginest nail group on Facebook

China Glaze Cast A Spell

Just a quick post today to show you one of China Glaze's Halloween 2012 polishes. This is Cast A Spell:

Cast A Spell is made of orangey-gold, lime and emerald green micro-flakies in a blackened olive base. This polish is stunning! It's murky yet still glows--even in ugly gray, foggy New England fall weather (I like to hope that, one fine day, we'll see the sun again). 

Formula is is a little on the thick side--practically a one coater but I did 2 because apparently I like wasting polish (any one else a habitual multi-coater even when they don't need to be?), then topped it with my trusty Seche Vite. 

Well done, China Glaze! You can always count on this brand for some awesome Halloween nail candy!

Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween 2012 Nail art challenge--day 1 "Trick or Treats"

So guess who decided to finally join a nail art challenge....I figured since I want to do tons of Halloween theme manis for the month of October and could use a little impetus to keep me going, why not hop on board this nifty little challenge that starts today? I learned about it in this nail-related Facebook group I'm in and the minute I saw it I was like "I'm SO on board with this!" I love the prompts and I love that everything is staggered out over the month of October because I know for a fact I could NEVER keep up with any kind of daily challenge (too many kids and too short of an attention span for that kind of nonsense)...

So anyfrickinway, onto the pics!

Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween 2012 Nail Art Challenge Day 1: Trick or Treats:

(please ignore the chip in my index nail...I whacked it on the screen door on my way out to snap these pics)

So the prompt for today is 'trick or treats'--basically sugary candy goodness. We all know I am a stampaholic but I am massively inexperienced when it comes to other forms of nail art--especially anything free form, so I wanted to push myself to do more free form stuff. I figured I could pull off something nice and simple like a candy corn manicure, so that's what I went with. 

I started off with a base of Finger Paints Papier Mache. Then painted Maybelline Sunshine half way up each nail. Next I painted Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in Sunkissed a quarter of the way up. I guess it's not that bad...right? It could have been worse...

So that's my installment for day 1 of this challenge. I am SO excited for all the upcoming prompts! I LOVES me some spooky things and am looking forward to painting all manner of ghoul and gore on these 10 little canvases on the tips of my fingers!

Btw, is that dancing skelly not the awesomest thing you've ever seen? Seriously, I want to tatt it on me somewhere!

Halloween nail art with scrapbooking rub-ons

One of my favorite nail bloggers is Another Bottle of Polish. I love how she frequently uses non-traditional materials in her nail art (by non-traditional I mean things that were not made specifically for nail art). For example, she creates beautiful manicures by using rub-on transfers--the kind you can find in the scrapbooking sections of craft stores. I finally got around to trying some of my own rub-on nail art. Of course, I chose a Halloween theme because from now until October 31st I'm rockin nothing but spookyness on my nails. Anyway, here's how my mani turned out:

Please try hard to ignore my terrifying cuticles. You know you just don't realize how bad your hands look until you blow them up a million times and macro-fy them... sigh...

I used my mani from yesterday (L'Oreal Project Runway 'The Temptress' Touch'), cut out some web and spider rub-ons, trimmed them to fit, placed them on my nails, gave them a good rub, did a little clean up with the ol acetone + ELF concealer brush and then sealed it all with a coat of  Out the Door topcoat. 

Here are the rub-ons I used. I found them at Christmas Tree Shops (an oddly-named bargain shop here in New England). 

So, are you feelin my rub-on mani? Thank you to ABOP for the inspiration! I see many more manis like this in my future!

Also, stay tuned for lots more Halloween nail art. I got a whole list of manis I'm planning to attempt!

The Temptress' Touch, AKA the most STUNNING chartreuse polish I have ever met

Lime green, yellow green, chartreuse-- whatever you call it, it is one of my absolute favorite colors and, therefore, every time I see a new polish in this shade, I must track it down and buy it. When I saw the promo shots for the L'Oreal Project Runway 2012 collection (check 'em out here), I KNEW I had to have The Temptress' Touch (which, incidentally is erroneously referred to as "The Temptress' Power) in the promo pics)...well, I finally tracked down a brand new Project Runway display and, of course, I Ninja grabbed me up some lime green goodness and let me tell you I am SO glad I did!! INSTANT new favorite here!!

outdoors on a depressing & dreary gray day

dreary outdoor shot with flash 

Ok here is why Temptress' Touch has stolen my heart:

• SUPERB formula--practically a 1 coater though I did 2 because I'm excessive like that
• the base is a yellow-leaning lime green but it is filled with this amazing emerald and orange micro shimmer that I of course could NOT capture with my camera
• the above-mentioned shimmer actually shows up brilliantly on the nail
• There's a gorgeous golden flash to this shade that makes it all the more awesome

The one and only thing I dislike about this polish is the brush--it is super stiff--almost like painting your nails with a little paddle or something. It requires you to have an extra light touch to make sure you don't accidentally create streaks or bald spots by scraping. Other than that, I am in LOVE and am seriously contemplating buying a back up bottle of this little bottle of gorgeocity (oh yea, you KNOW something's fierce when I invent new words to describe it!!)...

Have you spotted the new L'Oreal Project Runway collection in your area yet? Anything caught your eye?