Shot of the Day: Metallic "Chevron" Nails

We all know the chevron look has been really popular this summer, so I decided to try out one of my chevron stamps a little while ago to keep up with the trend.  Unfortunately, I did not evenly line up the stamp on my first couple of tries so I just decided the stamp the chevron pattern from a bunch of different angles instead.  I think it still looks pretty cool:

Sorry it's a little blurry...guess I just did not have a steady hand that night.  Anyway, here's a swatch of the base color without the stamp.  I used Sally Hansen's Gilty Party for this look:

And let me just say, I absolutely love this polish.  Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes are some of my favorites, and this one is a perfect cross-seasonal shade.  It has a tiny bit of bronze that makes it perfect for summer, but the overall shimmer and color could be great for a Christmas/wintery look, too.  See how the color shifts somewhere between silver/bronze/gold with the two different lighting settings in the photos?  It's basically a must have polish.

Shot of the Day: Galaxy Nails

Hey y'all!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Now that my husband and I have finished moving into our new place, I have been seriously trying to restore my pitiful, chipped and broken nails.  Now that I've got them looking decent again, I thought I'd celebrate with one of my favorite looks - the galaxy mani.  Here's a picture taken in natural lighting:

For this look, I used Nina Ultra Pro's Purple Xing as a base color, which worked great because this particular shade includes fine-medium multi-color glitter which really adds to that "deep space" look.  Next, I used a cosmetic sponge to dab on the little galaxies.  I outlined each little nebula in white first, then added depth and color with layers of pink, yellow, and dark blue.

Next, I used Essie's Set in Stones to add the little "stars, and then I finished by adding a coat of Out the Door's Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat in Silver.  And by the way, this was my first time using this particular top coat, and let me just tell you how wonderful it is, especially for a look like this.  Just like Out the Door's other top coats, Northern Lights dries quickly and offers great nail protection, but it also adds a subtle holographic shimmer, which kind of gives a 3 dimensional impression.  I will definitely be purchasing Northern Lights in Gold.  Anyway, here's the galaxy look in darker lighting, which really seems to glow with this top coat:

And remember, this is what it looks like in a brighter setting:

Pretty amazing, huh?  I must say, I'm quite proud of myself for pulling this off so well.  I did take me nearly two hours, but I think it was worth it.  What do you think?

Shot of the Day: Giraffe Print Nails

It seems like China Glaze's Lemon Fizz has been a huge hit with nail enthusiasts this summer.  And as soon as I got a bottle of my own, I knew it would be the perfect base color for a giraffe print mani.  Here's 2 coats of Lemon Fizz:

And I was right!  It is the perfect base color for a Giraffe print:

Please excuse my bad cuticle day...But other than that, pretty nice, huh?

Shot of the Day: Magic Carpet Nails

Base color is by Urban Outfitters, and I believe the stamping polish is from the China Glaze Romantique collection:

After I did this design, one of my friends commented that it looked like a magic carpet or something from Aladdin.  What do you think?

Shot of the Day: Tiger Stripes

So I've kinda gone a little stamp crazy this summer, and to be honest, I've stamped my nails so frequently that I couldn't keep up with all the products I was using.  So for the next few weeks, I'm basically just going to dump a bunch of stamping photos here.  It would take me forever to go back and figure out exactly which polish and product I used in all of my pictures, but if you really want to know a polish color name or stamping plate ID, just say so in the comments and I'll do my best to track it down.  Enjoy!

China Glaze base color:

And now for the tiger stripes:

So what do you think of my mani?  Pretty wild, huh?  :)

Happy 4th of July

So, I couldn't decide what to do for my patriotic manicure (there are sooo many options), so I just decided to do a little bit of everything.  Here's my left hand:

 And here's my right hand:

I've got glitter gradients, polka dots, stamps, and rhinestones...I feel like Uncle Sam would be proud!  It's too much product to catalog here, and I honestly can't even remember everything I used for this look, but it's pretty great, huh?!

Anyway, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday! Happy 4th of July!

Shot of the Day: Blue Cross Summer Brights Neon Pink

When I was at Rite Aid a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the Blue Cross Summer Brights collection.  I purchased this bright neon coral/pink shade, and I do not believe it has a name (I didn't see one at least):

It's a really beautiful, pearly shade that is great for summer.  To add a little extra pop, I added 2 glitter gradient accent nails using Gold/Crystal Glitter from Forever 21's Love & Beauty collection.  Here's a closer shot:

Overall, this was a very quick and simple mani with a fun pop of summery glitter.  The base color did chip off after about 2 days, but I was pretty happy with the polish in general since it cost less than 3 dollars.