My First Ever Water Marble!!

Originally Posted: February 27, 2013
Oh my goodness. I’m so excited you guys. I feel like a real nail-person now. Okay, here we go:

What do you think? I’m pretty damn pleased for a first try. I think my favorite is the middle finger on my right hand.

This was Zoya Blu and Zuza. I would post a tutorial but honestly, the queen of water marble tutorials is My Simple Little Pleasures. Her youtube videos are what I went off of, and I certainly can’t explain it any better than she does. The only thing I did differently was use a little shot glass. I couldn’t get the polish to spread over the water very well.

Bonus shot of the water marble without the dots:

I’m not sure which way I like it more. Any opinions?

Thanks for reading!

Purple and Gold Elegant Stamping

Originally Posted: February 25, 2013


I wanna repaint my nails so bad but I don’t have the time at the moment. Soon. Tuesday. Tuesday I’m hoping to TRY water marbling. I’ve never attempted it before and I’m scurred. Should I post the results no matter what?  What if it’s awful? Will you make fun of me? Will I become “that blog-girl that sucks at water marbling”? What could happen? I CAN’T HANDLE THAT KIND OF PRESSURE!!

*ahem*

So here’s a mani from the archives.

So this is Zoya Valerie with an unknown (but pictured) Sally Hansen gold stamped on top. Zoya Valerie is such a beautiful, rich purple. It might be my favorite color in my collection.

The gold stamp didn’t come out as bold as I wanted, but I really loved this manicure. It felt very… regal.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Where You Can Find Pleasure, Search the World for Treasure...

Originally Posted: February 21, 2013

Is that reference too obscure? I mean, 20 days ago I thought everyone knew who Frida Kahlo was, but so far almost everyone I’ve asked didn’t know who she was (she was a famous Hispanic artist. Look her up. Edumacate yourselves).

Aaaanyway, Today I have a couple more beautiful a-england polishes featured on my phalanges. This is Tristam and Excalibur.

Both of these were, again, just one coat. Here’s Excalibur on it’s own:

And here's a short and sweet tutorial:

Maybe it’s because I’m wearing a striped shirt today, but this feels very Navy-inspired. I should have stuck an anchor on one of my fingers.

Anywhozle, thanks for stopping by!

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows! (Okay, maybe just that last one)

Originally Posted: February 18, 2013
So my mani from my last post lasted a total of one day because I really needed something fun and spring-timey on my fingers. So I came up with this! Yay rainbows!

I used Orly Pointe Blanche, CG Pink Voltage, Zoya Paz, Pippa, Midori, Robyn, and Orly Purple Crush.

No tutorial this time because it’s just dotting. Very easy and just what I needed. I smile every time I look down at them 

Thanks for reading

GLITTER!

Originally Posted: February 14, 2013
Everyone is doing Valentine’s nails today, but I figure if I do new ones today, I’ll just have to take them off tomorrow. So I went with a glitter gradient:

Woo! So much sparkle! This is China Glaze Bling it On from their new Glitz and Glam collection. It has blurple and black glitters of all different sizes and I LURB IT. It’s perfect for gradients.

Close up of all that glittery goodness. (Click to Embiggen both pics)

I hope you’re all having a lovely V-Day. Thanks for reading!

Penguins in Lurve (with tutorial!)

Originally Posted: February 10, 2013

So I've been wanting to try penguins for a while (cause they’re so dang cute) and I realized today I’m about to run out of time to do a wintery themed manicure until next year! So I stuck some hearts on it and called in a Valentine’s mani. I think it’s adorable, if I do say so myself:

I debated putting the little blue and pink bow ties because gender stereotypes bug me. But bow ties are cool! And everyone knows penguins always dress to impress in their tuxedos. So on my right hand I did a couple little androgynous penguins in love:

Okay, yay! Tutorial time!

Colors I used:

(Left to Right) Zoya Robyn, ORLY Purple Crush, CG Pink Voltage, Zoya Raven, Marley, Sooki, and Paz, ORLY Pointe Blanche.

You’ll need a variety of different sized dotting tools.

(Click to embiggen)


Here’s hoping that was clear enough. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for reading!

Zig Zags! (Plus "Tutorial?")

Originally Posted: February 8, 2013

I kept trying to come up with another V-day manicure but everything I thought of or checked out for inspiration felt… wrong. THEN I got my order from a-england in and absolutely HAD to wear at least one of the colors. So I ended up with this!

This is a-england Saint George and Zoya Raven. I love it. Not at all Valentines-y, but I’m okay with it. Bonus Shot of Saint George:

That’s ONE COAT btw. So gorgeous. It has a scattered holo effect in the sun, but it’s been cloudy the last couple days so no luck there.

Here’s the “tutorial:”

Does it count as a tutorial when it’s only one picture? It’s a super easy design.

Excessive Step by Step:

1. Base Coat

2. Base color (let dry)

3. Cut tape

4. Place tape on nail

5. Paint on other color

6. Remove tape while polish is still wet

7. Top Coat

Yup. If you have craft scissors this gets even easier.

That’s all for today. Thanks for Reading!

Interlocking Dots! (Plus Picture Tutorial)

Originally Posted: February 5, 2013

So on Wednesday, my high school choir director friend has asked me and another friend to come to one of his classes and teach Erato’s “Call Your Girlfriend” to his women’s choir. This same director-friend has apparently told some of his students that I do nails. Which, of course, means I have to have cool nails when I go there. And my last mani started chipping today. So I’m staying up all late just to make sure I have awesome nails so I don’t let anyone down. I hope you’re happy, director-friend!

SO! Here we have China Glaze Pink Voltage and Zoya Raven making an appearance on my little nails:

I also made a step by step picture tutorial!

Materials:

Two contrasting colors that are fairly opaque

Dotting tool. Or a bobby pin. Or the back of a paint brush. or any smallish tipped tool you might have around. I wouldn’t use a toothpick cause that will make super tiny dots.

Top Coat

The only step left out is the topcoat at the end… but I wasn’t sure how to make that obvious in a final photo. So I’m telling you now. Step 7: top coat that bizniz. Also, in case it wasn’t clear, the initial diagonal line in step 2 does NOT need to be perfect. It will get covered up by the dots.

Okay, and now it’s entirely too far past my bedtime. Thanks for reading!

PS: If you’re looking for a freaking neon pink, this one is amazing. It’s coming off as slightly more baby pink in these pictures, but trust me, it will make your eyes bleed with happiness.

Okay. Goodnight.

Classy Matte and Walk-through Tutorial

Originally Posted: February 4, 2013
I loved this mani so much. It was so easy and so effective. This might be my favorite matte mani I’ve done.

Extremely easy to do:
1. Put down your base color (I used Zoya Jem) and let dry.
2. Lay down two thin strips of tape horizontally across the tip of your nail (scotch tape is fine, but I used striping tape. It’s super cheap on amazon).
3. Paint on a layer of mattifying top coat ( I used Essie’s matte about you).
4. Pull off tape while topcoat is still wet.

See? Easy peasy and really pretty. I hope you like!

Short and Sweet

Originally posted: February 3, 2013
Just a short update today. I’m going to try and do an update at least every other day for a while, since I have a backlog of previous manicures. As for today, this is what I’m wearing now:

This is Zoya purity, sponged with a gradient of marley and sooki, and with a Red Angel stamping plate. I like how it turned out a lot.
Off to my day job. Love to you all!

First Post!

Post originally created: February 2, 2013

On this, the first day of the second month of the thirteenth year of the second millennium, I, Coralee, being of occasionally sound mind and marginally acceptable body, announce my love of nail polish.

This infatuation has grown and blossomed from the moment I realized not all varnish was frosty pinks and dusty mauves. In other words… about two years ago.  Sometimes I’m slow; give me a break. 

So now I have these people in my life (some might call them, “friends,” or ”family,” or “that nice man on 8th st that thinks he’s Frida Kahlo”) that keep telling me I should claim a little corner of the internet as mine and document my budding obsession with all things nail art. I haven’t had a blog since Xanga was the place to be and bonding with internet strangers over my terrible, “blood-stained” poetry gave my 14-year-old life meaning. A lot has changed since then, thanks be to EVERYTHING. 

Anyway, that’s probably enough of an introduction. How appropriate that I should start this blog with a little bit of love and hearts:  

I used Zoya Marley, Loredana, and Sooki for these. I also made good use of some striping tape. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading! I hope this is the start of a lovely friendship. I’ll even call you Frida, if you’d like. 

Or Ms. Kahlo… that’s completely fine, too. I understand if you want to keep this relationship professional.