New 31DC Day 25: Inspired by your childhood

I did a lot of swimming when I was younger. I was on the swim team for probably 7 years, and took lessons for years before that. We spent so much time at the pool every summer. Practice twice a day and swim meets every weekend. It was great.

 

I started with a glitter sandwich, inspired by this look from Essie at iHeartPrettyPolish. Since I saw her mani, I have been searching for Revlon-Royal. I finally snagged a bottle in a recent blog sale :)  Anyway, I started with 2 coats of Royal, then added 2 coats of LA Colors- Sparkling Diamonds, then topped with one more coat of Royal and topped with HK Girl. 

 

I added the waves on the tips with BM-216 and Sally Hansen- Blue Away. The image didn't want to transfer very well, but you get the idea :) I like this one better without the stamping, but it definitely reminds me of the pool.

New 31DC Day 24: Inspired by a game

Sorry all, I'm doing bad at keeping up on this challenge! Even the laid back version! I was going to do Scrabble nails for this day...but I didn't get around to it. So you'll just have to imagine that they were awesome :) 

Check out what the other girls did for this day.....

Turquoise and Caicos

I've been wearing this for the last couple of days. I just love this color! I bought it last summer after seeing some swatches on Pinterest and I haven't worn it nearly enough. It's so pretty.

This is 3 coats of Essie- Turquoise and Caicos.

One coat of HK Girl on top. I love how shiny this stuff is!

 

New 31DC Day 23: Inspired by Nature

My first thought for something inspired by nature was flowers, or leaves, or something earthy. I really wanted to do french tips though, so I went with leopard print. Leopards are found in nature, right?

I used hole reinforcements to paint the french tips with Milani- White on the Spot. Then I used a dotting tool and Color Club- Beyond for the spots. I added the lines around the spots with OPI- Can't Find My Czechbook. Topped it with 2 coats of HK Girl.

I thought this one was pretty.

Facebook Page

I created a Facebook page to go along with my blog. Please go "like" it!

https://www.facebook.com/KickAcetone

Maybe with this, I won't keep annoying all of my friends with posting my nails on my personal page so much :)

New 31DC Day 22: Inspired by a fabric

I used my daughter's blanket as inspiration for this mani! It's pink on one side, and zebra print on the other side, It's in the background of the second picture here.

I started with 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot. Then stamped the zebra print with BM-223 and Konad- Special Black. I added one coat of HK Girl to make sure that was very dry before the next step. I taped off a section and painted 2 coats of NYC- Love Me Red Creme. Once that was dry, I used LA Colors- Silver Glitter striper along the lines. It could have done without the glitter I think...

Overall, I really liked this, and it matches her blanket really well! And her bedroom...and half of her wardrobe...let's just say I'm a big fan of pink and zebra :)

New 31DC Day 21: Merge or Melt

For today's challenge, I had big plans. I wanted to try watermarbling again, then I wanted to try the reciprocal gradient, then I ran out of time :(  It seems like I've been really busy, but at the same time, I feel like I haven't really accomplished anything. Anyway...I ended up with a simple glitter gradient.

I started with 3 coats of OPI- You're Such a Budapest. I LOVE this color! Then I added LA Colors- Jewel Tone for the gradient. I liked how it turned out.

This polish looks more blue in these pictures. My camera has a hard time capturing purples.

Liebster Award

Alright, I'm finally getting to writing this post! I was nominated for a Liebster Award from 3 girls! SpecialGirl Nails, Polished Elegance, and TikiBarbie. Thank you girls so much! It means so much to me that you all took the time to visit my blog and I appreciate your nomination!

I hadn't heard of a Liebster Award before I was nominated, so I had to do some searching to find the rules-
-Write 11 random facts about yourself
-Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you
-Create 11 new questions for your nominees
-Nominate 11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers


11 Random facts about me...

1. I've been playing the piano for 18 years
2. I have 9ish tattoos and want more
3. My favorite color is pink
4. I have an Etsy shop where I sell bows
5. My favorite song is Kokomo by the Beach Boys
6. I love pistachios
7. I love naps and often wish I was a cat so I could do it all day :)
8. When I'm stressed, I love to go tanning
9. I've been dying/bleaching my hair for so many years, I don't know my natural color anymore
10. I'm a stay-at-home mom with 2 sweet little girls, I also have 2 wonderful step-children
11. When eating M&M's, I only eat one color at a time


Questions from SpecialGirl Nails-

1. What is your favourite polish? Currently, Orly- Miss Conduct
2. If you created a polish, what would it be like? Most likely pink with either glitter or shimmer
3. What's the most difficult nail art technique you have tried? Watermarbling
4. What's your biggest lemming (the polish you most want but don't have)? KB Shimmer- Elle
5. What do you prefer to post/read about? Swatches, or nail art? I love both!
6. What is your best polish bargain? I have a bunch of LA Colors that I bought at The Dollar Tree
7. How important is neat polish/cuticle cleanup to you? Very, I'm a bit of a perfectionist
8. What are you wearing on your nails right now? Pink with black crackle
9. What is you favourite nail shape? Square
10. What do you think the next polish trend will be? I have no idea, hopefully nothing crazy
11. If you were in complete isolation, like on a desert island, would you still paint your nails? If I had all of my stuff, it would be a fun way to pass the time and try new ideas  

Questions from Polished Elegance:

1. When did you start painting your nails, and when did you start doing "nail art"? I don't remember when I started painting my nails, but I think it was pretty young. My mom used to use the head of a pin and make flowers for us, or we would use tape, so I grew up knowing some tricks. In high school I remember using craft punches with painters tape to make designs. Once I even used tape to make little Tommy Hilfiger symbols on my nails.
2. Favorite color? Pink!
3. Fruit or chocolate? I love both...how about chocolate covered fruit? :)
4. How many nail blogs do you follow? Oh goodness....probably about 20 right now
5. Where do you find inspiration for your nail designs? from other bloggers, pinterest, or just ideas I want to try
6. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I would love to go to Bora Bora, it just seems like paradise
7. Five of your favorite tv-shows? Dexter, Sex and the City, Elementary, Perception, The Following
8. Do you live in a house or an apartment? House
9. Where do you keep your polish collection? A computer desk in my living room, we no longer used it for a computer, so I turned it into my little nail station, and I can close it so my kids don't get into it.
10. Stamping - nail art or cheating? Art, I love all the amazing things you can do with stamping
11. Why do you blog? I love doing my nails, but because I stay home with my girls, I rarely get to show them off, so why not take pictures and put them online for everyone to see?!



Questions from TikiBarbie-

1. Favorite TV shows? Aside from the above, I love The Amazing Race, American Idol, and Weeds

2. Favorite book? One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish....since I was about 2
3. Favorite movie? I'm not sure if I have a favorite anymore. Probably anything with Gerard Butler or Bradley Cooper in it.
4. What would your last meal be? A medium rare steak, loaded baked potato, and Dr. Pepper
5. If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be? Giraffe, I think they're amazing
6. If you could trade places with anyone, who would it be? Riddick, my cat, so that I could sleep and be lazy all day
7. Do you paint your toenails to match your fingernails? Not usually, and I only paint them every few weeks
8. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken? 2 years ago we went to California for vacation, it was great, but the trip home took us 20 hours instead of the usual 10 because of horrible snow.
9. If you could only bring 5 polishes to a desert island with you, what would they be? Orly- Miss Conduct, Essie- Smooth Sailing, OPI- You're Such a Budapest, Color Club- Beyond the Moon, and Milani- Diamond Dazzle
10. What's your favorite season? Summer
11. What's your secret talent? I make amazing sugar cookies.

My 11 questions-

1. How often do you paint your nails?
2. Do you collect anything besides polish?
3. What's the farthest you've traveled from home?
4. Do you have pets?
5. What's your favorite beverage?
6. What's is the best beauty tip you've received?
7. What's your favorite nail care tip?
8. How long can you go with naked nails?
9. Do you paint your toenails as often as your fingernails?
10. What's your favorite nail trend?
11. How many polishes do you own?


My 11 Nominees!-
Fetching Konad Creations
Chlorinated Cuticles
Nail Me, Baby!
a fresh coat of {nail} paint
Newly Obsession
My Nail Polish Diary
Something About Everything
Me Gusta Nail Polish
Finger Food
Natalie's Nifty Nails
Cubbiful 

Tag, you're it!

New 31DC Day 20: Texture

Texture is one trend I'm not super fond of. I haven't tried any of the new textured polishes, but I really like everything to be nice and smooth. Even gritty glitters drive me crazy. So crackle was really the only type of texture polish I even own right now.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Essie- Your Hut or Mine. This was also my oldest untried polish. I was supposed to post that a few days ago, but I never got to it. I love this pretty golden shimmer it has to it. I put one coat of Sally Hansen Crackle- Ink Splatter over top. I didn't use top coat so it would stay very textured.

Autism Awareness

April is Autism awareness month, so I decided to join the other nail bloggers and do a blue mani in honor.

I started with 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild- Denim Chrome. I stamped the puzzle pieces and the awareness ribbons with BM-319 and 321 and Color Club- Over the Moon. Finished with one coat of HK Girl.

 I just bought HK Girl and I'm loving it! It dries super fast and the shine is amazing as you can tell in the photos. I was having a major problem with Out the Door smearing everything, so I asked the girls of Adventures in Stamping for suggestions, and this is what they suggested. It's amazing. This was also the first time I've tried stamping with the holo polishes, and I'm really happy with the results!

It's a very gloomy spring day in Idaho. No sun at all. It even snowed. So I couldn't get a great sunlight picture. I tried to make due with the flash to show off the holo. I love it. 

New 31DC Day 19: Favorite Polish

I have a lot of polishes that I really love, but I would have to say this is my favorite. It's Orly- Miss Conduct. I actually saw this one on my way to check out at Sally's one day. I just caught a glimpse of it on the shelf. I picked it up and looked at it and I had to have it. I think it's absolutely gorgeous! When I don't have time for stamping or some elaborate nail art, this is the polish I reach for so I don't have naked nails. I don't have a picture in the sunlight, but it's amazing. The holographic glitter is awesome.

Some Simple Dots

I just got the mini set of the OPI Euro Centrale Collection. I was most excited to try Can't Find My Czechbook. It looked a little more green than I was expecting from the swatches I've  seen. 

For this look, I started with 2 coats of OPI- Can't Find My Czechbook. I used 2 sizes of dotting tools and added the dots with Sinful Colors- Snow Me White and Essie- Go Overboard. I topped it with one coat of NYC.

April SquareHue Box

The theme for April's SquareHue box is the Bloom Collection. I thought this one was really pretty, very springy. Ignore how dry my fingers look, I didn't realize how bad they looked until I uploaded the pictures. Damn acetone.

The first color is Yellow Submarine. It's a pastel yellow. I'm not a big fan of yellow polish, this is only the 2nd to be added to my collection. I just feel like it never looks good with my skin tone. I like this color, it will be great for spring looks. The formula was a little sheer, I used 3 coats for the photo below. It's got great shine though, this picture is with no top coat.

The next color is called Flower Power. It's a bright apple green. The formula was better on this one. I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. This is also with no top coat.

 The last color is Groovy Love. It's a pretty lavender purple. The formula was kind of a pain with this one. A bit on the sheer side, but built up fairly well. I used 2 coats for this photo, but I think it could have used 3. Also shown with no top coat.

I really like this collection. It's the first one that I can actually see myself using all of the colors. A water marble with these 3 would be pretty...that is if I ever get around to trying water marbling again.

Easter chicks

Originally, I had planned on doing a stamped mani for Easter. I have some plates with cute bunnies, eggs, and all that. Then I saw this look over at Did My Nails. It was so cute I decided I had to try it!

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen- Melly Yellow, then added one coat of Out the Door to speed up dry time. In the tutorial, she just uses a striping brush to do her egg shells. I wasn't confidant in my ability to freehand it so nicely, so I chose to tape off the triangle sections and filled it in with Milani- White on the Spot. I added the eyes with LA Colors- Circuits and White on the Spot. Then the beaks and feet with Petites- Passion Orange. One coat of Out the Door to smear everything :( and I was done!

I ordered a bottle of HK Girl and can't wait for it to arrive so I can try it out! I'm hating how Out the Door is smearing everything on me lately.

Another birthday mani!

I wore this look for my adorable little nephew's 1st birthday! I got 2 lovely new holographic polishes and couldn't wait to try them out! They are amazing!

I started with 2 coats of Color Club- Over the Moon. It applied beautifully and was like painting a rainbow onto my nails, I love it. I used a striping brush and Color Club- Beyond for the stripes on the cupcake and a dotting tool with the same color for the dots. I also used Milani- White on the Spot for the dots, and the frosting. I used Disney Villians- Cruela Deville for the cherry. Topped it all with one coat of Out the Door.

Look at it in the sun! I can't get enough!

Funny story....when I got these polishes in the mail, I was excited and sent my husband a picture. He asked, "Are you excited?" and I replied, "I am! The holocaust is amazing!"

Damn predictive text...

:)

New 31DC Day 17: A new technique to you

I missed day 16! I had a sinus infection and ear infection last week, so I didn't get much done at all, and my nails were last on my to-do list. Sorry all. :(

The theme for day 17 is a new technique to you. There are quite a few techniques I have yet to try, but I decided to go with fan brushing. I have a fan brush that I had never used, and it seemed easy enough. It was fairly easy, but my base was way too thick, so my whole look just wasn't drying. I ended up removing this right after the pictures.

I started with one coat of Sinful Colors- Snow Me White, and 2 coats of Sinful Colors- Cinderella. I used the fan brush and Wet 'n' Wild- Denim Chrome, and went over that with Salon Perfect- Pure Azure. Topped with one coat of Out the Door.

This wasn't my favorite. Maybe a different color combination would have been better.