Nautical Nail Art

Nothing to Disclose

Hello all my lovely readers! Today I’m gonna show you most recent manicure. I decided on a nautical theme, not sure why I just really wanted to give it a go as I haven’t before. Mermaids and unicorns I’ve done to death but I wanted to do something a little different.

As usual my focus remains on indies so I used all indie polishes (except the white, I really need to get a good indie white and black. I think that will be my next goal. I already know I’ll probably get the ones from Digital Nails but if you wonderful folk have any other suggestions I’m all ears).

For this mani I pulled out some gorgeous creme polishes and one really amazing gold flakie topper. I used Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance and OPNL – Universal Loner were part of the Creme a la Mode box which I have reviewed before. They are really perfect for nail art. The gold flakie topper I chose to go with them is Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

First I started by painting my base colors. I used Bluestocking Romance on my forefinger and pinky finger and I used Universal Loner on my thumb and middle finger. I painted my ring finger with A Star to Sail By (keep in mind it is a topper so I needed to use four coats to reach an acceptable opacity, it is possible though!)

Nautical Nail Art featuring: Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

Once I had the base down I added a crisp white stripe to the nails painted with Bluestocking Romance using some nail vinyls to make sure that it was straight and clean. I hand-painted an anchor on my ring finger, I know that freehand nail art intimidates a lot of folks but this one is a really simple design that I think anyone can do! I’m no impressive nail artist and if I can do it then certainly anyone can. Once I had the white accents added I decided it needed some metallic studs. I used a teardrop shaped gold metallic stud on my middle finger and thumb and then I added teensie red metallic studs to each of the white stripes on my forefinger and pinky.

Nautical Nail Art featuring: Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance, OPNL – Universal Loner, and Indigo Bananas – A Star to Sail By

While I do not think that Bluestocking Romance or Universal Loner have been discontinued you will want to check Literary Lacquers new pop-up sales model to find out if and when it will be restocked. OPNL usually also works on a pre-order model and releases certain polishes at certain times. A Star to Sail By is still available at the Indigo Bananas shop! I will include social media and shop links for all three brands below:

Indigo Bananas

Facebook – Instagram – Shop

Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Geek Week!

Oct16

Some Products May Have Been Provided for Earlier Review

Yes my dear readers. This is by far and away one of the weeks I was looking forward to the most! We all know where it’s going to go right? I have a love for so many pop culture things but by far and away I like the geeky shows and books the most. Sherlock, The Walking Dead, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, Lord of the Rings, Supernatural, The Hunger Games (books not movies), Harry Potter (books not movies), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow… Do I really need to continue? I think you get the idea! Anyway I did not mention the one that has the biggest piece of my heart and that’s Doctor Who of COURSE! So today you’ll get to see a homage to the 11th Doctor (I’ve been wanting to do this one for awhile but never had a good time or reason to).

Now, the 11th Doctor (played by Matt Smith) was not necessarily my favorite Doctor. But, I grew to love him despite a rocky beginning. By the end I was just as sad and cried just as hard to see him regenerate as with earlier Doctors. *sniffles* Ah the feels. Ok enough of that! Onto the nail art!

Geek Week – Homage to the 11th Doctor

Bow ties are cool! I knew the minute I saw this stamp that it would become part of an 11th Doctor nail art look! I’m sure that it’s not meant to be bow ties (it comes from a Christmas-themed plate) but it’s so very like the red bow ties that the 11th Doctor wore so well that I could not resist.

Geek Week – Homage to the 11th Doctor

To get this look I started by painting my fore and middle fingernails in a plain white (I used Sinful Colors – Snow Me White, I know I know it’s not indie but I do use mainstream white and a few other plain colors for stamping and such right now). I then painted my ring and pinkie fingernails with A Study in Polish – Not Our Division. I let that dry a bit then I came back in and on the first two fingers I stamped the “bow tie” design from the Cici & Sisi – Christmas 2014 plate using Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner. On the last two I stamped a star design from Bundle Monster – BM20 in silver (Sally Hansen – Silver Sweep, don’t judge!). Of course I couldn’t stop there. I needed to add an awesome 11th Doctor profile and a TARDIS vinyl from YouPolish! Top coat the whole thing and voila, a fitting homage to the 11th if I do say so myself!

I was really happy with how this one turned out. Don’t forget to check out the InLinkz below to see the rest of the amazing nail art that is turning up for Geek Week!

Until next time may your days be filled with Glitter and Flakies!

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40 Great Nail Art Ideas – Hobbies

Oct2

Nothing to Disclose

Hello my lovely readers. I have something a bit new for you today! I have joined the Crumpet’s Nail Tarts and have committed to a nail art challenge that is going to span the whole year! This is how it’s going to work. Every other Friday you will see a nail art post from me (as I get better at doing these nail art posts maybe I’ll include some tutorials and things like that) based on that week’s theme! This is the first week of the challenge and I have been just so excited to share this with you. I decided I wanted to do this for a couple of reasons: 1. I want to improve my nail art game and I hope to see a definitive difference from my posts early this year and later on, 2. I want to incorporate some more variety in the blog, 3. I hope ya’ll will like it!

So here’s how it works: Crumpet’s Nail Tarts are getting together to show you (our wonderful readers) 40 Great Nail Art Ideas. At the bottom of each post will be an InLinkz so that you can easily check out everyone’s nail art looks. Without further ado:

This week’s theme is Hobbies. I was pretty excited about this one. I thought and thought about it. Should I do something that involves the jelly and jam-making that I love doing, should I do nail art inspired by nail art (this was a definite contender!), or should I do something that involves my longest love and passion. I finally landed on my longest-loved hobby – Reading!

Crumpet’s Nail Tarts – 40 Great Nail Art Ideas

Now, I know it’s not perfect, I totally bumped my ring finger before my topcoat was fully dry but I didn’t notice until the picture was taken. Ah, well. I’m new to this posting nail art game so a few snags here and there at the beginning is ok with me.

Crumpet’s Nail Tarts – 40 Great Nail Art Ideas

The thing about this is, this is all hand-painted by me. I do not do a lot of freehand nail art because, well, I don’t feel like I have the chops. So I was really proud of this one. I did not trust myself to paint directly on my nails so I made my own decals and hand-painted them and then applied them as I would any decal, whether it be reverse stamping, or a dry water-marble decal. This epitomizes my love of books and my desire to see everyone read more. Oh and if these colors look familiar? They should I just reviewed the Creme a la mode box a few days ago here and then used them all in this nail art look!

I hope that you like this new nail art adventure. Don’t forget to check out all the awesome blogs below to see more great nail art ideas!

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Creme a la mode collaboration box – Swatches and Review

Sep27

Nothing to Disclose

Alright my dearest readers! I have another exciting bunch of creme polishes to show you today. Recently four makers (three of them already long-time favorites of mine and one I’ve been dying to try) got together to start a collaboration box. Each quarter a new box will be released of fashion-forward, seasonal, on-trend colored creme polishes. Their first box was a quartet of fall colors. Of course the instant the pre-order was opened I snagged my box…I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on this!

Creme a la mode Box

This is how the Creme a la mode box works: Every quarter Digital Nails, Literary Lacquers, Indigo Bananas, and Octopus Party Nail Lacquer are going to release four on-trend creme colors. These will first be offered in the Creme a la mode box which is a pre-order at an amazing discounted price (under $30 – can’t beat that!). Once the Creme a la mode box has made its way into the eagerly awaiting hands of the customers the individual brands will release their own individual color in their shops, at the normal price. So that means if some random shenanigans keeps you from ordering the box, never fear, you can still get the colors later but they will be priced higher. So, each of the polishes I show you today will be, if they aren’t already, available through each brand’s website.

Whew! That’s a lot to get through I know! But it’s so worth it because these polishes are the… creme de la creme (HA! See what I did there??!!) and definitely live up to the hype!

First up Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon:

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Oh yes, The Dark Side of Maroon almost made me swoon (rhyming for the win!). The color is an absolutely beautiful deep wine color. Perfect for fall. Honestly, if you are more into vampy dark colors, it’s perfect for any season!

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Excuse me…I was just drooling a bit over here. In fact I’m pretty sure I need to go put this back on again right now. The formula was very good. The polish goes on a bit sheer in the first coat but is fully opaque in two coats, which I think is perfectly acceptable. It self-levels beautifully and dries to a high-shine finish. I had no problems with application on this polish and found it very easy to work with. It is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark or red color.

Indigo Bananas – The Dark Side of Maroon

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance:

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Hubba freaking hubba. Yeah I said it. We already know my well-documented love of navy blue polish. This polish is utter perfection color-wise. It is a deep rich navy blue without leaning teal or being so dark that it appears black. It’s just stunning.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Can I get a round of applause? Holy cow these pictures make me want to wear them all again! This polish could have been a one-coater. For the interest of pictures and consistency I did two coats. Again another fantastic formula, self-leveled, dried to a high shine. This one was very easy to apply and I had no problems with snags, drags, or streaks. Like the Indigo Bananas, it is highly pigmented so you’ll want to keep clean up to a minimum if possible because it can be a touch tricky, but no more so than any highly-pigmented dark blue polish.

Literary Lacquers – Bluestocking Romance

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Next up a new to me brand, Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner:

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Holy freaking crap! This is a true red creme polish. Fun fact, I did not own a true red creme. I know, I know, no need to hyperventilate! I’m aware that it’s nail polish sacrilege not to own a true red creme but, I didn’t. So, yeah, needless to say I was all about this one. I didn’t even want to take the swatch off so I kept it on for like two days. You can’t more classic than a true red creme polish and this one is beautiful.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Ditto my reaction to Bluestocking Romance. Hubba freaking hubba AGAIN! Like The Dark Side of Maroon the first coat on this is a bit sheer but builds to perfect opacity in two easy breezy coats. Highly recommend careful application, because, this is a highly pigmented polish and like a lot of reds, dark blues, and dark purples they can be a little bit tricky to clean up. The good news is that it had a very easy to control formula and it made careful application not only possible but delightful. Dried to a high-shine.

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer – Universal Loner

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

Last but certainly not least…Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism:

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Oh.My.GLOB. EVERYTHING. This polish is EV-ER-Ything to me! I spend so much time trying to find perfect neutral polishes and I always gravitate to grey. This is a beautiful putty or “greige” color. The perfect balance of beige and grey. I am so in love with this color I can’t stand it. I just know it will be the base of much nail art and be layered under glitters galore.

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

I have come to expect, and receive, perfection from Digital Nails’ polishes. I should have known that a creme polish would be the same. This one is very opaque and was easily opaque in two coats and some people may be able to get by with just one. I looooove the brush in this polish (something I rarely mention because, well, nail polish brushes are all pretty ok for me mostly) it’s round and fluffy but doesn’t lose any of the control that you would expect from a polish brush. Self-levels, check. High Shine, check. Great formula, check! This one was the easiest to clean up but that’s to be expected as this is a much lighter color.

Digital Nails – Tauping Mechanism

Pictures show two coats, sans topcoat.

There you have it. I have broken down the inaugural Creme a la mode box. I loved every one of these polishes. I’m delighted to finally add an Octopus Party Nail Lacquer to my collection (and I know it won’t be the last). Trust me, next quarter grab the box when it’s up for pre-order. You won’t be sorry.

Make sure to follow all the makers on their social media and check out their shops if you missed the Creme a la mode box this time.

Creme a la Mode

Facebook – Instagram – Shop

Digital Nails

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Indigo Bananas

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Literary Lacquers

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Octopus Party Nail Lacquer

Facebook – Instagram – Shop