The Loch Ness Monster Likes Makeup Too

So, today, in honor of the 4th of July, I created a patriotic, red-white-and-blue manicure. I wanted to share it with you, even though I probably should have posted it a few days ago so that someone could actually have worn it for the 4th. Whatever, I don't plan ahead. Patriotic Nails Anyway, this is a very simple manicure because I was in a bit of a rush today, and I didn't want to mess with anything complicated. For this manicure, I used three polishes. You could use any red, white, and blue polishes for this manicure, but this is what I used: 1) Right Said Red by Sally Hansen 2) White On by Sally Hansen 3) Sailor by Zoya When selecting your polishes, I advise picking a blue-toned red (as opposed to an orange or yellow toned red). A red polish that has too much orange in it will look wonky next to blue. Similarly, I advise choosing a nice, deep blue for your blue polish. I picked Zoya's Sailor because it's a lovely, dark navy. I advise avoiding light bl...

Another month, another fifteen or so manicures to share with you. Silver Dollar by Revlon  and  White On by Sally Hansen - I wrote a whole blog about this manicure , which was inspired by Jon Snow and House Stark from Game of Thrones . In case you don't know, I have a whole series of blogs about manicures inspired by Game of Thrones . I created this particular look using a gradient technique. Silver Dollar and White On Fearlessly Alice by OPI and White On by Sally Hansen - I tried to create a very summer-y, nautical inspired look with this manicure. I started out with two coats of White On by Sally Hansen, which is my go to white polish. Then, I used MoYou London's Sailor #1 stamping plate to stamp a starfish onto my accent nail with Fearlessly Alice by OPI (ignore the fact that it's crooked; stamping is still a work in progress for me). Then, I used my dotting tools to paint polka dots onto my other nails (also with Fearlessly Alice by OPI). White On and F...

Game of Thrones Sword Nails There are a lot of swords in Game of Thrones : Needle, Heartsbane, Longclaw, Ice, Oathkeeper, etc. The Iron Throne itself is said to be forged from the swords of the vanquished enemies of Aegon the Conquerer (which is a creative way to get a new chair, if nothing else). So, for this week's episode of Game of Thrones , I created a sword manicure. This design may look complicated, but it's actually quite simple. All you'll need to produce this manicure is nail polish (preferably silver and black) and a set of dotting tools . To start out, I painted two coats of black polish on four of my nails ( Black Out by Sally Hansen ) and two coats of silver on one of my nails ( Silver Dollar by Revlon ). You could also do the reverse of this (four silver nails and one black nail), which I did on my non dominant hand. Silver Dollar is a basic, metallic silver, and Black Out is a regular, creme black polish. I used these polishes because I had them on h...

In honor of the new episode of Game of Thrones that is airing tomorrow, I have decided to continue my series of Game of Thrones inspired manicures. This one was inspired by Jon Snow (aka, the guy with the best hair on television) and House Stark. For this manicure, I used t he same gradient technique that I used to create this Targaryen manicure a few weeks ago . The gradient technique is a simple way to get cool, unique manicures without lots of tools or expertise. If you aren't familiar with gradient techniques, or you didn't read my Targaryen manicure blog , I'll walk you through the steps. 1) Before you start, you'll need a wedge shaped makeup application sponge . You can buy bags of these sponges at drug stores or cosmetic stores. They're very cheap. Using scissors, trim a sponge so that the thick end is roughly the size of your largest nail. 2) After you have your materials ready and have chosen the colors for your gradient, paint  a latex bar...

Last month, I started a series of blog posts about the nail polish I wear every month. So, if you enjoyed embarking on a nail polish voyage with me last month, climb aboard the nail polish cruise ship with me. Ladybird by Butter London and White Out by Sally Hansen - The first manicure I did this month was based on this tutorial I watched about how to create nail art hearts with dotting tools . As you can see, it worked out alright. I struggled a bit to make the hearts neat and they ended up looking a bit like Micky Mouse ears. Ladybird and White Out Black Out by Sally Hansen , Stardust by Butter London , and Petrol by Butter London - This manicure was inspired by Game of Thrones (which is back for Season 6, yay!). I wrote an entire blog about it , but, basically, I wanted to do something that was dark and vampy and inspired by the Night's Watch in Game of Thrones . Black Out, Stardust, and Petrol Honor by Zoya - I picked this polish up on a whim at Ulta (...

So, I recently graduated from Penn State on May 7th, and, in honor of PSU, I created this graduation manicure. Everyone who saw it loved it and thought that I had gotten a professional manicure (I did it myself). So, you too can save yourself some money and do this simple, cute graduation manicure.   Penn State Nails If you don't know, Penn State's colors are dark, navy blue and white, and our mascot is the Nittany Lion. So, for my manicure, I did a base coat of blue and white paw prints for my accent nail. I started off with my blue base coat. I used the shade Sailor by Zoya , which was the best Penn State blue I could find (obviously, you can use any shade of dark blue you want). I like Sailor a lot because it is opaque in one coat , which cuts down on drying time. After your base coat is completely dry, you're ready to do the paw prints. I used a dotting tool to create my paw prints. Dotting tools are very cheap and versatile , and they are an essential tool i...

So, last week I wrote a blog about a Game of Thrones inspired nail look and people seemed to like it, so I decided to do a follow up blog with my Game of Thrones nails for this week. This week's nails were inspired by House Targaryen because I love Daenerys Targaryen and she always looks fierce -- even when she's been walking through the dessert for weeks. I created this nail using a very simple gradient technique . Because House Targaryen's colors are black and red, I did a black and red gradient. Before you start, you'll need a wedge shaped makeup application sponge . You can buy bags of these sponges at drug stores or cosmetic stores. They're very cheap. Using scissors, trim a sponge so that the thick end is the size of your largest nail. To start out, I painted a latex barrier around my nails. If you don't know, latex barriers (also known as the peel off stuff) are very useful for messy nail art -- and gradient nails are messy nail art. Yo...

So, if you've been reading my other blog, you know that I'm a big fan of Game of Thrones and I'm super excited that it's back for season 6. For this week's episode, I decided to do a Night's Watch inspired manicure because I had a feeling (and I was correct) that important things were going to happen at the Wall in this episode. Anyway, I started off with two coats of black polish because, of course, the Night's Watch wear black. I used Sally Hansen's Black Out , but you can use any black polish you have. It doesn't have to be anything special, just basic black. Next, I applied a holographic top coat over four of my nails. I used Butter London Stardust , which has a nice rainbow effect, but any holo top coat will do. The rainbow holo reminds me a bit of the way light reflects on snow, which seemed very appropriate for Jon Snow. (Who is definitely my favorite reanimated corpse). For my accent nail, I just put a coat of Butter...

So, I've decided to try a new sort of post this month. Recently, I've been really into nail polish and doing my nails. Actually, I don't think I left the same nail polish on for more than two or three days in a row this month. I wanted to talk about some of the nail looks I did this month, so I took a picture of every manicure I did this month (sans one horrible, glittery, gloopy mess that I couldn't bring myself to photograph) and now I'm going to write about. So, if you're bored by incessant chatter about nail polish, click away. But, honestly, who could possibly be bored by incessant chatter about nail polish. Please excuse my horrific cuticles; I am in desperate need of cuticle oil. Over the Moon by Butter London - This was my first manicure of the month. Obviously, this is a nice, basic warm grey. It's nice and neutral and professional. Plus, it's a Butter London shade, so it's completely and utterly chip proof. Like, you have to try to c...