Essie Summer Collection 2013 Color Block + Tutorial

So... It has been a while since I worked on some nail art, mostly cause I'm in the swatching indies wagon, but when I received the box of minis from this Essie Summer collection, I just couldn't resist.
This is what I came up with:

Polished by KPT - Being in the Pink

As I always say, I'm a thermal whore. I just LOVE thermals! Also, my favorite indie thermal maker in the world is Katherine from Polished by KPT. But she's so awesome that it's not easy to be able to snag some of her most popular polishes like this beauty, Being in the Pink.

It took me 3 restocks to be able to get one, but oh man it was worth the way. I have nothing else to say but to simply show.

Crackle Gradient + Step By Step

Today I have combined 2 styles I really like, crackle and gradient.

This is my first time trying on gradient nails using the makeup sponge method, I really like how it turned out.

Here's all you need to know to create this look

Rainbow Argyle + Step By Step Process

This is a look I have been wanting to make for a while, but I confess it looked so overwhelming that I have been postponing it for a while.

Well, today I decided to finally sit down and give it a go and I wasn't wrong about being overwhelming, but it was totally worth it cause I love how it turned out!

Here's the step by step process

Go Ravens!

It's not really a secret at this point that I'm a crazy Baltimore Ravens fan, and even though it's a fairly new obsession, it's not less powerful!

This is not the first time I make a mani inspired by them and for them, you can find another one here. And I hope you don't hate it (or are a Steelers fan) cause it might become a weekly affair ;)

More Make Up Your Face, This Time For My Ravens!

You don't have to know me for too long to know that I'm a huge fan of the Baltimore Ravens!

A few years ago I didn't know anything about Football, I always thought it was very stupid to sit and watch 20 seconds of action and 20 minutes of commercials over and over again and I just never really got "it".

And oh how wrong I was and how much of a difference it makes to actually understand what's happening, then you can see how those 20 minutes of commercials are sooo worthy when you get the 20 seconds of super exciting action...

So back to nails, the is another of the MUYF Glitter Bombs I got a couple of days ago. It's supposed to be a holiday nail polish, but it turns out that when you mix it with a purple base color like this, it's the perfect Ravens combo!

Make Up Your Face Glitter Bomb + Some Striping Tape

Up until now I have only own one indie nail polish. Don't get me wrong, they look amazing! But to be honest, they're not the cheapest, and I can't help but think how many regular nail polishes I can get for what one indie costs.

But today I made an exception, I just really wanted to get some of those amazing glitter bombs that I'm seeing everywhere now. So when Make Up Your Face offered a mystery grab bag for a much more affordable prize, I just couldn't resist, it was a sign!

The downside of buying these is that you don't get to choose what you get, so I was just hoping for the best, and I have to confess I was not disappointed.

Here's what I got

From left to right: Ornaments, Wreaths, & Christmas Treats; Pastel Lover's Paradise; Snow Angel; Girls Rock Your Boys; Funfetti.

Halloween Mix 'N Match

It is really very easy to put together a cool Halloween Mani. There are so many options out there, and lots of tutorials for different looks can be found online, that it would be a waste not to at least give it a try.

Actually, it was so hard to decide which one I wanted to try that I just combined them (almost) all!

So here's the breakdown for each nail and what I used:

Before Instagram Series - Purple Dots

This was my first time trying on double dots and it wasn't very successful, if I learned anything was that you need to use a pretty opaque nail polish when dotting to make them look nice, and this wasn't the case.

For these I used Kleancolor Pastel Purple and Sinful Colors Let's Talk

Before Instagram Series - More Crackle

This is another quick post about crackle. You can read what I think of it here.

This time I used Kleancolor Bikini Green and topped it with LA Girl Fracture.

(OMG my cuticles)

Before Instagram Series - Crackle

I don't know why people hate on crackle so much, but I'm glad cause I really like this look and it's always super cheap cause nobody else buys them ;)

For me, crackle nails are an instant nail art look without much effort and if you use fun colors like these ones it can turn out pretty cool

For these I used Kleancolor Pastel Purple and LA Girl Fracture. I wish I had better pictures of them cause they were pretty fun and cute.