Beyonce Costume Inspired Nail Art

Whenever I see something particularly striking, I try to envision it on my nails. As for my music tastes, I enjoy a wide range of genres. My iTunes library ranges from completely known and unknown. Admittedly, I have a soft spot for the superstar Beyonce. I love her songs, her voice, her energy onstage, etc. With her recent performances at Revel, I was stunned at her costumes while I watched the show online. You'll never see me in one of those skintight sparkly looks but I will continue to lust on the sidelines. I chose one of her looks as inspiration for this nail art.

On a separate note, I really want to know if I should switch fonts from  Courier to Times. Probably looks more professional but maybe I'm over-thinking the significance of font choice. I tend to over think everything.

To create this look I used Essie Ruby Slippers on top of a frankened nude. Using the red sparkly glitter, I created wide french-like tips and freehanded triangles on the lower portion of my nail. Honestly, I could've waited and used tape for clean lines. I didn't. I created that polish by mixing some of my mineral makeup into a clear polish. Thus the polish very closely matches my skin tone. 

All photos taken under artificial lighting.

Costume used as inspiration:

(Photo Credit)

Sort of wish I could pull off that "bejeweled cut-out leotard" look. Oh well, I guess I'll stick to nails.

Fashion and even costumes can be a great source of inspiration. Personally, I like to interpret the lines, print, or colors on my nails. What's your favorite source of nail inspiration? If you don't have one, is there anything you would like to see me try? Suggestions are welcomed. Should I change over to "Times" font?

On To The Next Polish,

Katie

Diamond Jubilee Inspired Nail Art

Two weekends ago, I found myself captivated by all the Jubilee nail art on Tumblr. One of my favorite tumblr blogs is The Illustrated Nail. This salon came up with gorgeous designs to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's reign for sixty years. Furthermore, I was inspired to create my own nail art for the event. One of these days I've got to visit the UK-and go to all the amazing nail artists out there.

Each nail is different besides the ring and thumb nail which both feature Union Jack flags. The pinky nail has a crown design. The middle finger has a diamond for the diamond jubilee. The index nail has the number 60 on it. All photos taken inside with artificial lighting.

Nail Art Breakdown:

Pinky:Crown formed by placing individual hex glitters from Milani Jewel FX Gold. Base of Revlon Red Hot Tamale. Two blue dots added with Nails Inc Baker Street.

Ring: British flag done with base of Nails Inc Baker Street, Milani Precision Nail Art Brush in White, and Revlon Red Hot Tamale.

Middle:Base of Revlon Red Hot Tamale. Diamond created with Milani Jewel FX Silver with black lines surrounding shape with Milani Precision Nail Art Brush in Black. Baker Street added to sides of tip.

Index: Baker Street base. Milani Jewel FX Silver used to create 60. Red Hot Tamale on tip. China Glaze Love Marilyn over red.

The crown and the thumb flag. To create designs using a large glitter polish use a toothpick to pick up and place individual glitter pieces.

Have a great week! Mine's going to be stressful but rewarding.

On To The Next Polish,

Katie

Valentine Hearts Nail Art

A few weeks ago, on Valentine's day, I sported a festive manicure: white hears on a red background. The simple look seemed perfect for this sweet holiday. It was easy to create and very fun to wear.

I started with a red base using Revlon Hot Tamale. I used white acrylic paint for hearts of varying sizes and finished of the manicure with top coat, Essie Good to Go to be exact. I'd love to know, anyone else sport a festive manicure on the holiday?

On To The Next Polish,

Katie

Icings Charlie Sheen Nail Polish Collection

Recently Icings stores came out with three nail polishes with names reminiscent of Charlie Sheen phrases. It is not a collaboration but rather inspired by the crazy antics of Charlie Sheen. All three polishes are full of glitter but sheer. They look great layered but for these swatches they are on their own.

First up is Tiger's Blood. 

Indoors (4 coats)

In the Sun (4 coats)

Indoors (4 coats)

Tiger's Blood is a sheer red base loaded with gold glitter flakies.  This polish is awesome! I love the glitter. I know it is a dupe for Cult Nails Captivated, which I wanted to get instead but it is sold out and not coming back. The formula wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad. The pictures show what it looks like with 4 coats but for this polish I could have gotten away with 3. It was totally worth it for a polish this pretty. This is my favorite of the collection.

Next is Epic Winning. 

In the Sun (4 coats)

In the Sun (4 coats)

In the Sun (blurred intentionally) (4 coats)

Epic Winning is pure glitter. It contains navy and white holographic glitter. It is sheer as well. Formula is fine. It helps to wait in between coats but I never have the patience for that. If you wanted to layer it with less coats it would look great over any blue polish. This is my second favorite. It is a pain to remove but it certainly is winning.

Finally the last one is named Rockstar From Mars.

Inside (6 coats!)

Inside (6 coats!)

Rockstar From Mars is a very clear turquoise blue base with gold/yellow glitter. It looks amazing in the bottle but disappointing on the nail. It looks unique but it doesn't seem anywhere near opaque. I tried 7 coats after pictures but still not completely opaque. I don't mind doing a lot of coats in a manicure if it gets opaque. Honestly four coats for opaqueness doesn't lessen my opinion of a polish. But six coats and still not close to opaque annoys me. I did think it was sheer when I bought it though. I'm sure I'll like it as a layering polish though. 

Overall, I really like this collection. Rockstar from Mars was the only disappointment on its own. The other two I loved. All polishes would look great layered. Icings polishes are usually $4.50 but sometimes buy one get one half off (they were when I got mine). I love the names. I imagine if Charlie Sheen were a nail polish he would be full of glitter and sheer (just to annoy people to try to get him opaque). 

Thanks for reading!

On To The Next Polish,

Katie

Preview: Charlie Sheen Collection

EDIT:For swatches and reviews of the full collection click here.


Recently I was able to score all of the polishes from the Icings Charlie Sheen Collection. First of all I cannot get over the names! It's probably because I got too wrapped up with Charlie Sheen in the media. These should be pretty easy to track down provided you live by an Icings store. However, I had to go to two stores because at one of them I could only find Rockstar from Mars. The other store was fully stocked though.


Anyways I only have pictures of Icings Tiger's Blood ready to post. I'm debating whether or not to split this collection up or to group all three polishes together. If anyone has an opinion one way or the other feel free to tell me.


Here's a preview of Icings Tiger's Blood. Full Review to come.