Halloween Nail Art

Hey you guys!

Here is my second attempt at Halloween nail art. I'd say it is a bit of a step up from my Frankenstein nails, huh? It sure took longer!

Left Hand

Below is a list of all the polishes that I used for this manicure. 

Thumb and ring finger: OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? as the base, Pure Ice Black Rage for the accents, and silver loose glitter from the Born Pretty Store. 

Index: Pure Ice Black Rage for the base & China Glaze Orange You Hot? for the pumpkin.

Middle finger: Zoya Charisma for the base and Pure Ice Black Rage for the bat. 

Pinky: Pure Ice Black Rage for the base and Finger Paints Paper Mache for the ghost. 

Right Hand

I freehanded the characters on my index, middle, and pinky fingers using a variety of nail art brushes and dotting tools. I used scotch tape for the designs on my thumb and ring finger, and then placed the loose glitter (dubbed "glequins" by Sam at The Nailasaurus) along the border with a toothpick. 

Left Hand

I'm really happy with how the nail art turned out. I wasn't sure I'd be able to accomplish such a large undertaking, but I keep surprising myself. 

If you read my blog, I'd love to have your feedback on what you think about this manicure.

Also, what types of posts keep you coming back? Is it the nails, the beauty box reviews, or other product reviews? Would you like to see me write about anything else? PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Thanks!

--Dixie

Tweet

Sephora & Sally's Haul

Heyyyyyyyyyyyy!

I bought things. Some fun things. And I'm gonna show these things to you now. Okay. GO!

Benefit - They're Real! Mascara Mini ($10)

I purchased this because it came highly recommended from the ladies at Sephora. I decided to go with the miniature size just in case because the last mascara I bought that came highly recommended did not impress me. Honestly, I like the mascara. It isn't waterproof, so it does smudge just a bit, but not terribly. What I don't like about this mascara is the brush (as you can see in the photo below). It is quite large and I find it difficult to NOT get huge clumps of mascara in my lashes with this brush. I will likely use this until it is gone, but I'll probably go back to my usual L'Oreal Carbon Black Telescopic Mascara after it is empty. I'm glad I didn't purchase the full size since it runs $23. :O

The brush

Lorac - POREfection Baked Perfecting Powder (~$32)

I purchased this powder because I was almost out of my usual powder by Smashbox, and my favorite Sephora shopping buddy recommended it. There wasn't much of a price difference, so I tested it out in the store and decided to purchase it.

My verdict? I really like it. Lately, I've just been wearing powder by itself (with sunscreen and acne medication underneath). For a long time I used to wear tinted moisturizer by itself, but my skincare routine has changed in such a way that the tinted moisturizer wasn't working out anymore. Some of the medication that my dermatologist prescribed seriously did not like to be on my face with any sort of tinted moisturizer, so I switched to powder. The Smashbox powder gave me a decent amount of coverage while not looking very heavy. My new Lorac powder gives quite a bit more coverage while still not making me look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup.

Shade PF2 - Light

A bonus that I read on the packaging after I got home was that this powder is "infused with Salicylic Acid and antioxidants to help skin appear youthful, healthy and clear." Perfect! This powder was made for me I think!

The only negative thing I can think of is that this powder did not come with a powder puff, nor can you store one inside the compact. At least not while it is completely new. :-/ I have powder puffs and brushes that I can use to apply this, but it isn't convenient to tote around for quick touch-ups. For now I am leaving this one at home, and I have my almost empty Smashbox powder in my purse for emergencies.

Lorac - Color Me Couture Palette ($37)

This is the eye shadow palette that I ended up purchasing instead of the Stila palette that I originally planned to purchase (as mentioned in a previous blog post HERE).  I'll tell you more about it below.

How pretty is this?! This is probably why five fairly small pans of eye shadow cost $37, but isn't it nice to look at?

Unfortunately my photography skills aren't that great, so it is difficult to see the colors. The first shade is a shimmering creamy pearl, then a shimmering gold pearl, a shimmering bronze pearl, a shimmering olive green with gold pearl, and the last one is a shimmering black with gold pearl.

The black color is the whole reason I bought this palette. When I used the Stila palette that I keep referring to, there was a black shadow that had a very pretty purple shimmer in it. I used it to make a smoky eye, which I haven't really ever done, and I loved it. Then I saw this black with the gold shimmer and had to have it.

I have only used it a couple of times, and so far I really like it. Lorac eye shadows are very pigmented, so a little goes a long way. This will last me forever. :) Worth every penny.

China Glaze - Rare & Radiant, No Plain Jane, and Thataway

Lastly, I went to Sally Beauty Supply the same day to look for some new polishes. Lucky for me, China Glaze polishes were on sale! I've used the first polish above in a previous post HERE.

Again, my photographs are LAME. Not only am I not an awesome photographer, but I took these photos at night. STUPID. I edited the best I could to show the colors better.

Finger Paints - Fall of Suprises!, Sephora by OPI -- Traffic-Stopper Copper,
Orly - Androgynie

The polish in the middle (Sephora by OPI) came from Sephora. The other two were from Sally's. I already posted a swatch of Orly Androgynie HERE. Pretty sparkles!

I should be getting a small army of nail polishes in the mail from Zoya soon. Boy howdy have I been impatiently waiting for those! I'll share them as soon as I get the chance!

Thanks for reading this random post about things I bought for myself. :)

--Dixie

Tweet

Orly - Androgynie and China Glaze - Rare & Radiant

I shall rename this polish "Awesomesauce"

I went to Sally Beauty Supply to look for one thing and ended up finding about 5 other things instead. I'm so glad I did. This polish is one of my new favorites.

Click to admire more closely!

The black polish is Orly Androgynie. Although it is spelled differently, the term "androgyny" or "androgynous" basically means that something is partly male and partly female in appearance. In that case, I think the name of this polish applies quite well. 

It is a black jelly base (the manly part) filled with multi-colored and iridescent glitters (the girly part). I only needed two coats to make it opaque, and I love how the glitters from the first coat show through the jelly of the second coat. It is kinda like a jelly sammich, except not. The formula was super easy to work with, too! As usual, I am wearing a base coat and a top coat in the photos. 

For my accent nail, I used China Glaze Rare & Radiant from the Fall 2012 New Bohemian Collection. It is a lovely duochrome that shifts between green and gold. The color shift is much easier to see in the bottle at the bottom of this post, it is very difficult to photograph on the nail. :-/

Macro shot

In this photograph, you can see the colors better on the accent nail and the bottle. Lovely, yes? :)

Well, that's all for today. See ya next time...

--Dixie

Tweet

Grapefruit Nail Art

Get your sunglasses ready... I may have played with some bright colors!

I decided to do citrus-y type nail art and was pretty impressed with how it turned out. It's far from perfect, but you can tell what it is supposed to be, right? :)

All photos are clickable to enlarge!

The pretty neon green is China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard. This is from their Summer Neons 2012 Collection. I saw this color swatched on other blogs and definitely had to have it. I LOVE green.

Here's the grapefruit (or orange) on my right hand. Which means I painted it with my left hand. It's not terribly intricate stuff, but I'm still really amazed by my artistic abilities. ;)

For the nail art, I just used a very fine-tipped art brush. I blobbed out each color onto a sheet of foil as I needed it. 

Macro Shot!

The formula of China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard is lovely. The first coat can be a little streaky or bald, but it only takes two coats to get full opacity. You don't need "underwear" to make it as bright as it is in these photos. That's the annoying thing about a lot of neons, but none of these need a base of white.

All of the pretty colors I used

From left to right: OPI - MonSooner or Later, Essie - Lights, Wet N Wild Wild Shine - Sunny Side Up,  China Glaze - Sun-Kissed, China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard, Essie Luxeffects - Shine of the Times.

Thanks for taking a peek at my nails. Hope your eyes re-adjust quickly. ;)

Also... DON'T FORGET to check out my giveaway! It ends this Sunday at midnight!

--Dixie

Tweet

OKC Thunder Fingernails: China Glaze - Splish Splash & Orange You Hot?

Hello Thunder Fans (and everyone else)!

After posting my last "OKC Thunder Fingernails" manicure, I stumbled upon several other far superior versions of Thunder manicures. I felt a little silly for calling my plain blue fingernails a themed manicure, so I'm back again with some improvements. 

My best rendition of the basketball in the Tunder's logo

I started by applying 2 coats of China Glaze's Orange You Hot? to my thumbnail. After that was dry, I used a smaller brush to paint the blue portion (China Glaze's Splish Splash) you see in the photo above. I then used a fine-tipped nail art brush I purchased from Sally's Beauty Supply to draw the black lines of the basketball and then outlined it in white to mimic the logo as much as I could. It's not perfect, but I think I did pretty good for my first try at free-hand nail art.

Other thumb

The black lines were done with Pure Ice - Black Rage, and the white outline was done in Finger Paints - Paper Mache.

China Glaze Splish Spash & Orange You Hot? from the Summer Neons 2012 Collection

Here's a shot of the rest of my hand. I did an accent nail in orange with three different colors of polka dots using my dotting tool (also purchased from Sally's).

Other accent nail

 The dark color is Essie - Midnight Cami. It is actually a dark blue, but it always looks black. The middle color is Splish Splash. And the last color is Pure Ice - Silver Mercedes.

After letting things dry as long as I could stand it, I topped everything off with Sally Hansen's Inta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat. Tada!

Also: The Thunder won again! :) :)

Thanks for stopping by...

--Dixie

Tweet