My Birthday Nails!

I turned 27 yesterday! Woohoo! It's really not nearly as exciting these days as it was when I was little. I'm just starting to feel old. But, it was a good excuse to do something bright and fun on my nails!

I started with one coat of Sinful Colors- Snow Me White as undies. Then sponged China Glaze- Fancy Pants and Ahoy! for my gradient. You can't see much in these pictures, but they both have the same amazing pink shimmer in them, it was really cool how the shimmer was all the same through the gradient, I wish I could have gotten it to show in photos. The stamp was done with BM-315 and Snow Me White.

And last, but not least...my birthday haul! This is all a combination of polishes from my Mom, my friend, Sarah, my kids, and some that I picked up with birthday money :)

Ahh....aren't they beautiful?!?

Mint Manis for Talia Joy

It's always sad when cancer takes a life, but even more so when it's a child. This look is in honor of Talia Joy. I'm sure you've all seen a lot of mint manis today. Her last Instagram photo was of mint nails, so it seems only fitting for us all do to the same. I read this from Nicole at Nail Polish Wars...

Talia was a beautiful thirteen year old girl who was battling two horrible forms of cancer, neuroblastoma and preleukemia. She was also a supremely talented make up and nail artist.  You might have seen her amazing appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, where she was also made an honorary Cover Girl!

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen- Mint Sorbet. On my ring finger, I added one coat of Orly- Sparkling Garbage. On my middle finger, I stamped with BM-02 and Essie- Go Overboard.

#mintmanisfortaliajoy
‎#TaliasLegacy‬

July SquareHue Box

I apologize if my photos aren't the best quality these days. I think the 117 degree weather in Vegas fried something in my camera! Every picture I take is super blurry and the color on the LCD is all sorts of messed up. So I've had to use my phone for my pictures the last few weeks.

Also, sorry it's taken me so long to get this SquareHue box swatched! I was really sick last week and didn't get much accomplished.

Down to business... the July box was called The Salute Collection.

The first color is Valor. A pretty sage green color. Very Army green. At first glance, I really didn't care too much for this color. It was prettier than I expected though. Although I'm not sure I would wear it on it's own. Like all of their cremes, it's super shiny. This picture is 3 coats, no topcoat.

The next color is Patriot. A very vibrant, royal creme. I immediately loved this one, and when I put it on, that didn't change. It was gorgeous! In this picture, there is a hint of visible nail line, but in real life, there was none at all. This is 3 coats, no topcoat.

The last color is Honor. A really pretty gold shimmer. This one is super pretty, but I don't like gold with my skin tone. It will be great for nail art though, and I have a couple of little divas that no doubt, will love it. This is 2 coats, no topcoat.

Overall, this wasn't one of my favorite boxes. I ended up not getting the June box, and kinda wish I had gotten that one instead of this one. Oh well, I guess you can't win em all! I'm anxious for the next box, it's called The Endless Summer Collection...very intriguing...

Cheers!

My husband made sure I saw this commercial. He skipped back and said, "this is so you." I thought you would all enjoy it as well :)

Blue Reciprocal Gradient

I've seen the reciprocal gradient around a few times. On challenges, and a lot on Pinterest, and I've always wanted to try it myself. It was a little intimidating and looked time consuming, so I kept putting it off. The other night, the kids went to bed early, and we didn't have any shows on, so I had plenty of time to spend on my nails, so I decided to go for it! And I'm so glad I did! I love them!!

I started with a base of one coat of Milani- White on the Spot, then did my gradient with a makeup sponge and White on the Spot, Sally Hansen- Blue Away, and NYC- Water Street Blue. I topped that with HK Girl and gave it awhile to make sure it was dry. Then I cut 30 little strips of striping tape and used tweezers to place them all on my nails. I used the same colors in reverse order over the tape. I made sure to pull the strips of tape off white the polish was still wet to get clean lines. 

This was my halfway point :)

After removing all the tape, I topped it with one final coat of HK Girl and I'm absolutely loving the results!! Let me tell you though, clean up was a nightmare!! I think next time I do it, I'll tape off my nails before starting.

What do you all think? Are you going to give this look a try?!

4th of July!

A few days late, but better late than never, right?! This is what I wore on my nails for the 4th of July this year. It was also my 4th wedding anniversary! And I'm still quite fond of my sweet hubby :)

I started with 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot. Then I used hole re-enforcers to tape off the half moons, and sponged Calvin Klein- Bombshell and Wet 'n' Wild- Denim Chrome on the rest of the nail. Then I stamped with White on the Spot and W-107 from the Winstonia set.

I really loved these! They turned out just how I imagined in my mind, and they were so festive!