on the hunt

I'm getting fixated on weird things since there's really nothing else to focus on at the moment as the world is at a standstill while fools figure out what they're actually doing. Recently I saw an ad on Instagram (the ONLY THING getting me through right now) and it featured a hand model with the prettiest pale yellow nail polish. I love a pastel all day long and I realized I didn't have a pastel yellow polish and very soon after that realized it's legit THE RAREST COLOR ON EARTH.

I know there's a pandemic going on, but it's still spring so there should be pastel colors everywhere, no? Moreover, pastel yellow is not just a spring color it's an Easter color--so why was it so hard to find? Searching shelf after shelf in multiple stores (within walkable distance since getting in a vehicle and going anywhere is a felony) made me dizzy so I'm not surprised I picked up a color that appeared to be more khaki than yellow...but who knows what it's going to look like out of the bottle. Based on what I've seen online it might be what I'm looking for, but I'll have to wait until I'm awake long enough to redo my nails again for what feels like the millionth time.

2019 nail art | french manicures and florals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll admit these are mostly summery designs, but I love all of them, my favorite being the purple/green floral design with the gold studding. I think most of my nail art looks way better in person or maybe not? I'm know I'm not an instagram-level manicurist, but I have a lot of fun trying.

 

2019 Fall Nail Art | Halloween fun and rhinestones galore

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel like I literally spend half my life painting my nails...and I'm ok with that.

Nail Art Part Two: experimentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These nail looks are from the tail end of 2017 into the fall of 2018 when I was starting to grow my nails out so I would have even more space to decorate them. One of my main methods of decor was using Kiss nail art products:

I love adding applique to my nails to elevate a plain look to something cutesy and unique. Also using nail art tools has helped with perfecting my artistic applications with certain looks; stickers lay so much better using that white smudger thingy. Recently, I was lucky enough to pick up a stamper by Kiss Nails (it was the last one left in the store!) and I'm hoping I'm able to create even more sophisticated looks like the ones I see on instagram that make me feel like I'm a five year old with poor hand-eye coordination. 

Another technique I employed was using pigments to rub on the nails as an overlay instead of polish to create a more intricate color schemes. Most of my pigments I use are by MAC:

 

They are messy to use, but still a very viable creative way to switch up plain polish and because they are basically dust, they dry the polish a bit faster than putting a coat of glitter on.

Nailart Part One: short and sweet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still love nail art, like A LOT. So much so that this is going to be a multi-part post because I redo my nails very often, but I don't have time to post every single look...plus, it's not like I'm that good at it anyway, it's just a relaxing hobby for me that I like to share. 

These are nail designs from 2017 when I was still trying to improve on my application technique as well as explore higher quality nail polishes. They're not the best designs, but some of them looked better in real life than in photos. I wanted to showcase Sally's cute unicorn topcoat, "Let's get digital" because I used it quite a bit to transform basic nail polishes into glowing varnishes. I also had a lot of fun using beauty wedges to stamp on polishes, which is a messy but very effective technique I learned as well.