Dark blue matte

Best day of football ever on Saturday.  It's no surprise to some of you that I love the Iowa Hawkeyes and I have season tickets this year.  We've had our ups and downs,  but we won in overtime this weekend. I have never yelled so much in my life.  I do a black and gold mani every game, so maybe I need to create an album of just those.


Today I have a quick mani to share.  I was fumbling around on Pinterest and saw a lovely manicure that was a super dark blue shimmer that was mattified and decorated with silver studs.  I totally stink at studs.  I get nail glue all over the nail and on my fingers.  Hate it.  So, I dug out my new Pueen stamping plates, and did that instead.

My blue is Essie's Aruba Blue.  This is just two coats and is a deep royal blue. The accent nail is Pueen plate #33 and the polish is Maybelline Bold Gold. The matte finish top coat I use is Essie's Matte About You.

I love how royal and elegant this looks when matte.  I'm not usually a big fan of blue nails, but I'm totally loving this.

I also need some more practice with stamping. I'm fairly new to it, and I'm having issues every time. Either the polish is not working, or the stamper doesn't grab the image. Top it off with that then I tend to put it on crooked.  I just need to sit down and mess with them more I think.


Also- I uploaded a ton of pics to Instagram on Sunday.  Follow me here and help a sister out.  ;)


Any tips with stamping? What's your favorite matte finish?
April

Lucky 13, Animal Print

How was your weekend? Mine was super awesome.  Not only did my football team win, they obliterated the visiting team. However, it was pretty sunny out, and I didn't realize how sunny it was until I looked at my husband (who is a fair skinned redhead) and he was super red. It was then that I remembered that I put a mascot sticker on my cheek that morning. Yep. I've got a tigerhawk sunburned on my cheek. I look ridiculous.  Good thing my nails are here to distract me!!

Today I've made it to day 13, animal print.  I Googled pictures of animal prints, and I just didn't see anything I really liked. Here's the thing... I have always sort of thought that standard animal prints are for older women, like leopard and zebra print... it's just not something I would wear. Definitely not something I would purchase.  So I started to think about other animals. Fish. Snakes. Birds. Wait... birds! I had purchased some feathers a long time ago, and knew it was perfect for today's challenge.

I started with a base of OPI's Do You Lilac It? and let that fully dry. Then I grabbed the feathers and found some good looking ones that would be easy to apply. Look for feathers that have a tight tip and are curved at the end- that way you won't have to trim as much. 

Then working one nail at a time,  I swiped on a coat of Seche Vite topcoat,  and then placed the feather on top. Seche Vite dries pretty quickly, so I was able to trim the excess feather pretty quickly. Finishing the rest of my hand, and with the feathers secure,  go back and closely trim the edges and file. One more top coat, and voila! 

I love this. I don't think I want to ever take it off. Imagine how fab this would look with a golden yellow base... hawkeye nails! 

What's the verdict on this one? Have you worked with feathers before?  

Happy Monday

April