Neon Sponge Gradient with Stamping

Hi polish friends!

I love summer for all the fun bright nail art looks we see everywhere. Today's mani takes full advantage of the season with a neon sponge gradient with some added stamping. Perfect for the bright sun and hot temps!

It's been a few weeks since I wore this, so I can't say I remember everything I used off the top of my head, but if you do have a question about any of that, I will do my best to answer!

My Final 4th of July Nail Art Post

Hello polish lovers!

I have the last of my patriotic nail art to show you today. I had so much fun with my theme week but I am ready to pick some other colors besides red, white and blue. ;)

I saw an idea similar to this on Pinterest. This is what I wore for the actual 4th and for my baby shower the next day which had a red, white and blue theme! 

This is China Glaze Poinsettia, Milani Fast Dry White on The Spot and China Glaze Blue Year's Eve in a sponge gradient. I noticed I was reaching for a lot of winter holiday polishes to make all my 4th of July nail art looks...kinda funny. Anyway, the gradient was topped off with stars stamped in Essie No Place Like Chrome...loved the end result!

This isn't nail related, but I thought I'd share anyway. I made this little wreath for the 4th/baby shower. I  am sort of addicted to making wreaths...they are so fun and always turn out really cute. Plus you can go as simple or complex as you like when making them. :)

I hope you guys all had a great weekend. Look for more reviews and nail art from me this week!

Zoya Sponging Gradient

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I last posted! My little sis graduated high school this past weekend (grad nails to come!) and I took a little break to celebrate with all the family we had in town. 

This is a sponging gradient that used some of the new Zoyas I got from the Earth Day promo. Love these colors together! This is Tallulah, Josie, and Neely. 

This is part one of what the final outcome of my mani really was (thus the not so complete clean up). I thought I'd leave you with some suspense! I know...you can hardly take it. ha You'll see the rest tomorrow!

Sponging gradients never get old for me! How about you?

Sponging Gradient + Nails Inc Feathers in Brighton

Hey everyone!

Kind of a late post today. It's been a busy day that's gone by way too fast!

I got my hands on Nails Inc Brighton from the Feather Effects line at Sephora. I had to check 3 different locations in 2 cities coming up empty handed each time before I ordered it online. This seems to be the most popular color because now it's not in stock on the Sephora site either. But never fear! I think Sally Hansen will be coming to the rescue with a line of Feather dupes very soon! Check out more info on that from one of my absolute favorite beauty bloggers Nouveau Cheap.

So, to complement Brighton's fun color combo, Dustin did some sponging with Orly Lemonade and Orly Green with Envy. Brighton definitely has texture to it that an ordinary topcoat won't touch. Unfortunately, I was out of Gelous ( my favorite way to smooth out glitters/texture) so I had to deal with it. haha

The matte bars are definitely a departure from what we are used to seeing in the polish world. What do you think about this look?

My Thanksgiving Mani!

Good morning!

Just a quick post to show you what I wore on my nails for Thanksgiving. A little late but that's ok! :) I did this mani sitting on the couch with my 2 year old jumping all over the place so that said, I'm quite happy with how the whole thing turned out. haha 

I did a sponging gradient with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Bronze Ablaze and Quick Brick and topped it off with Autumn Harvest from Hit Polish. My accent nail is a feather...I should have doubled up on topcoat because it's looking a little dull.

Overall, I think it looks cute. :)

Born Pretty Store Black Polish + Nail Art

Hey guys!

I recently got some items from Born Pretty Store to review and this one didn't disappoint! This is a black polish with pretty gold fleck type glitter in it. I did 2 coats here and the formula was great!

The gold fleck in this polish inspired me to continue the gold into some nail art. I have been saving this mani from ColorfulBottle for inspiration and now was the perfect time to finally make the idea reality! First, I sponged the tips with Orly Luxe and used it to stamp a cheetah print design. I love the look the fade gives to the design!

This is a pretty simple nail art idea and it marries 2 of my favorite methods of nail art! 

You can find the base polish I used *here* and the stamping plate I used *here*. 

 Don't forget, you can use code AJ10W21 to get 10% off also!

So, what do you think of this mani?

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NYX Acid Pink with Sponging

You guys! It's been so long since I have blogged! Moving is such a drawn out process! I am happy to say that we are slowly getting back on track enough for me to get back on a regular posting schedule. :)

This post is simple, but I figured that was the best way to find my blogging groove again. I recently made a Cherry Culture haul that you will be seeing more of in the future. 

Today I am showing you NYX Advanced Salon Formula in Acid Pink. I really like this line of polish. There are some unique shades as well as more simple colors that all have a great formula. Acid Pink is a super bright hot pink with some bluish shimmer. Dustin sponged white at the tips and I layered Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter over the top to make the look cohesive.

I really liked this look. It was a fun twist on a french mani that was more "me". 

Thanks for sticking with me through my short hiatus! :)

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Pastel Sponging with Stamping

Hi guys! Today's my birthday AND Dustin's last day of class before finishing school...so it's a good day!

This isn't what I am wearing for my birthday, I will probably post that tomorrow. I saw an easy way to do this look on Pinterest instead of trying to make a perfect gradient by hand. I started with a white base. Just paint the sponge directly with all the colors and dab it once on some paper and then the nail and it's done! Maybe you already knew about that. haha

This is Sinful Colors Unicorn, Beautiful Girl, and Sweet Dreams.

To add a little something, Dustin did stamping that was fun and springy!

Love it! Have a great day! :)

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Snowy Nail Sponging

Hi readers!

I did a simple, but fun mani last night using the nail sponging technique. The base is Kleancolor Pastel Blue, with Color Club Pretty in Platinum sponged in sort of a gradient from the tips. The middle finger is the same colors, but reversed. And to top it off, China Glaze Snowglobe was sponged on. It gives this mani just the touch it needs!

I wish my photo was a little better, but here it is anyway. I think it looks way better in person than it does here!

Born Pretty Review Series: Matte Polish

Here is another product from Born Pretty Store...matte nail polish. I got a light purple color. It doesn't have a name, just a number (01). Even though this is a matte formula, there is a lot of multi color shimmer in the polish which I really liked about it. The flash from my camera brings that out and lessens the matte effect a little. 

Since I have begun experimenting with sponging lately, I decided to give it another try. I used Maybelline Express Finish in Violet Aluminum (from Dollar Tree) and sponged a gradient from the tips down. Then I added a tiny bit of Color Club Fashion Addict to complete the gradient.

Finally, I wanted to see what the matte looked like shiny, and it really darkened the whole thing up! I still like it though.

The formula on this was really good...almost a one coat polish! Application was very easy, coming from someone who is a messy polisher! haha This retails for $4.36 and there are a lot of unique mattes to choose from. Overall, I recommend this!

Matte polish sent to me for review by Born Pretty. 

Nail Sponging with Color Club Poptastic

Happy Saturday! My day has been full of rain and storms....I was hoping for a pool day. :( I guess this gives me an excuse to blog though. Lately I have been very uninspired and if you like me on Facebook you know that some of my ideas have been huge fails. I guess that's why I don't have a lot to show you recently. haha 

I am still in Tennessee trying to get better from mono (it's been almost 6 weeks people!!) so my nail polish stash I brought has been worn out I think. I needed to get some more options  and managed to get out and find Color Club's Poptastic collection at Ross.

I used Twiggie for the base of my sponging. Obviously this shot is before clean up. That said I had a hard time with this polish because it's on the thick side. Pretty color though!

This is my first time doing sponging all on my own...I had Dustin do it in the past. haha So I'm not sure how I feel about the end result. Although I did get comments on my nails everywhere I went today...guess that means something?! :P

Looking back, I think I would have chosen a different color combo for this. The polishes I used for sponging (all Color Club) : Poptastic, Pucci-licious, and Chelsea Girl.

I think I am going to experiment some more with this tonight! <3

Nail Sponging with Sinful Colors Neons

Good morning (almost afternoon)! This nail look is a fun collaboration between mine and Dustin's ideas. I have taken pics for each step of this look so maybe you can get some inspiration for yourself! :)

We started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors White on White, which is a really good, non-streaky white!

Next, Dustin layered on Sinful Colors Neon Melon on top. Layering a neon over white really helps ease the application/streakiness. Can I just say how much I love Neon Melon? It's in your face and super bright and it really brings out the dark tones in my skin. I can't wait to wear this on it's own!

This is where Dustin's art skills come in...I am sure I could master this with some practice, but when I tried to do it I muddied the colors up too much. So here is Sinful Colors Summer Peach and 24/7 sponged on top of Neon Melon. I would wear this look on it's own too because it's so fun and bright!

Finally, we chose the perfect stamp to compliment the sponging. This is Bundle Monster plate 205. I topped the mani off with Hard Candy's matte top coat.

You can purchase Sinful Colors at Walgreens, or directly from their site (but it has been down for a while now). I got the Hard Candy matte topcoat at Walmart.  Thanks for reading and have a great day! <3