Nail Art – Pink and Rose Gold French Tips

Hi everyone! I’ve got another nail art post for you before I move onto the big stuff coming up soon! I know I haven’t gotten around to doing the second part of my blogiversary posts yet, and also my Julep box post from this month (most likely that won’t make it in by the end of the month unfortunately). But at least I’ve got something going in the meantime!

This weekend I went to an AMAAAAZING gem and jewelry show that had so many fascinating sparkly and shiny objects that the whole experience bordered on sensory overload – it’s THAT glittery. Of course, when you attend a jewelry show, it’s best to keep your outfit as plain and simple as possible in order to make the jewelry stand out more, and so I made a conscious effort to keep my nails on the toned-down side for the show. I’ve been feeling the muted pastel peach/pink colors in the past few days (my taste in nail polish really changes with my mood), and so I ended up doing very dainty French tips in a super feminine pink/rose gold color combo, which was absolutely perfect for the show: simple with just a little shine.

SquareHue February 2015 Swatches, Comparisons, and Nail Art

Hi everyone! I know it’s the end of the month, but it’s still February so here today I have my February 2015 SquareHue box to show you all! As the second installment in the decades collection, this month’s box represents the 1910s. While I really loved last month’s box, this one was kind of a let down for me in a few ways. I definitely wasn’t as excited about it as the other boxes I’ve gotten, but I suppose they can’t all be winners. At least the colors made for some pretty great nail art! I used all the polishes to make this gradient French tip with roses design, which is super adorable and feminine. I loved it so much that I did a mini-tutorial at the end!

Disney Queen of Hearts French Manicure

Hi everyone! I have some more nail art today, and it’s back to Disney nails for me! My latest manicure is this cute French manicure inspired by the temperamental Queen of Hearts from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. This design was prompted by yesterday’s celebration of my friend Kimi’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMI!!! <3), at which my friends and I dressed up in “Disney chic” villains attire! Dressing in “Disney chic” (or anything “chic”, really) means that you assemble a bunch of normal, non-costume clothes in a way that emulates the way a particular Disney character looks or dresses. Over a month ago, my friends and I found this awesome compilation of Disney chic outfits based off of Disney villains, and we were pretty wowed. Dressing in Disney chic ended up being a part of Kimi’s birthday party, so Disney chic dress up finally happened! I swear I’m an adult, haha 😉

Out of the ten villain outfits they had on the website, I chose the one for the Queen of Hearts. This was partly because hers was one of my favorite outfits in the compilation, and partly because I happened to already have clothing that would work for the look. Of course, I had to think of a nail design to go with my outfit! I decided that this was one of the few occasions in my life when I would like my outfit do the talking rather than my nails, so I wanted something that wasn’t too garish. Quite a change of pace for me! After thinking about it, I decided to do a simple, clean French manicure with subtle hints at the Queen of Hearts. My final design consists of colorful double French tips on all nails, plus little card suit accents and a little golden crown on my thumb. It’s so adorable! This made me super excited to do the full dress up once I got my nails done 🙂

Subtle Glitter Sandwich Gradient French Tips

Hi everyone! I have a new manicure today that features gradient French tips done using the “glitter sandwich” technique, which is an incredibly simple and easy process. It’s so simple and easy, in fact, that I can make glitter sandwich nails even when my life gets crazy, as it will be for this entire month! Like I said in my last post, don’t expect elaborate or frequent nail art from me until November because I have a TON of things to do until then, and nail art is simply not high on my priority list. Nail art for me is a fun hobby – and a welcome respite from work-related stress – but I know my limits, and will have to cut back a bit temporarily.

I removed my previous manicure a little sooner than I may have liked because I had to go to an event this weekend with a conservative dress code, and I just didn’t feel comfortable going in gray and red nails. This glitter sandwich manicure is a relatively subdued and demure way to wear nail art, while still being fun and sparkly. And, of course, the fact that it is soooo easy to do is quite appealing. I’d highly recommend trying to do a glitter sandwich manicure if you’re a nail art beginner, and/or you want your nails to look subdued while still trying out glitter in nail art. The glitter sandwich was actually one of the techniques I learned in the very beginning of my nail art hobby, and the very first photo I ever took of my nails uses this technique. I’ve included the photo in this post as a throwback, just so you can see how far I’ve come. I’m almost too embarrassed to post it, but I’m gonna do it!

Modern Shiny/Matte French Manicure with Wet n Wild Roadwork

Hi everyone! I have some simple nail art today because this month is CRAAAAZY for me…and we’re only two days in! For work, I have a whole bunch of projects to finish, or significantly work on, by the end of the month and I’m quite anxious about getting everything done. And these are not small projects – these are really big and REALLY IMPORTANT. Therefore, I’m going to warn all of you readers in advance that my nail art this month may be a little underwhelming, and will be on the simpler/easier side. Most likely, I will also be posting less frequently (the last time I posted was over a week ago), so don’t expect too much from me this month. I was really looking forward to doing some really fabulous landscapes soon, but now I may have to postpone that until the somewhat less busy months of November and December.

Anyways, my manicure today is a modern French manicure that uses a brand new color from the Wet n Wild Megalast line called “Roadwork”. By “modern”, I mean that the colors I chose are not sheer pink or white, and that I played with shiny and matte topcoats on the different regions of my manicure. My idea for this manicure actually came from a set of fake nails at a drugstore that I saw and loved, so I decided it would be fun to do something similar on my real nails. Once I saw Roadwork from the new Wet n Wild Halloween collection, I knew I wanted it to be the base color and everything fell into place.

Rose-Colored Subtle Gradient French Tips with Zoya and Wet n Wild

Hi everyone! I have some really simple nail art for today: gradient French tips with rosy colors. The past week has been really hectic for me due to two unexpected family emergencies, and me trying to catch up on work. This means I haven’t had as much time for nail art as I would have liked, which is why I left my previous manicure on for 6 days instead of the 3-4 I usually do. With simple nail art, though, I can still do something slightly more than a solid color. Hence this stuff with muted, rosy colors Zoya Rue and Wet n Wild Sophisticated Lady. At the end of this post, I’ve got a short review of the Urban Outfitters White Rose perfumed topcoat, which I put over this manicure. Check it out:

My Favorite Things Series – Starbucks Passion Iced Tea Lemonade with Sally Hansen

Hi everyone! I’m adding a new entry to the My Favorite Things series today (a series inspired by my stuff), and this time my inspiration is readily available for purchase at your nearest Starbucks! For this entry, I was inspired by my current favorite Starbucks beverage: Passion iced tea lemonade (I’m going to refer to it as PTL from now on, since that’s what Starbucks does). I really love the fruity and refreshing iced tea/lemonade drinks Starbucks has been putting out for summer, and the Passion tea version is especially delicious. One morning, I got a big cup of it, and it just looked so beautiful (and tasty) I couldn’t help but want to honor its loveliness. So I turned it into nail art! I’m not trying to promote Starbucks here; this is purely a personal homage to my favorite drink.

Starbucks Passion Iced Tea Lemonade Nail Art

One of the things I’ve been rather disappointed about the My Favorite Things series is that none of the stuff I’ve been posting about can be purchased anymore. Past features have included designs inspired by a minty starry scarf, rainbow dichroic glass earrings, and gray and red poppy bedding, none of which are very easy to find since I either found the items in an obscure location or they are no longer in season. It makes me a bit frustrated with myself when I go on and on about how much I like something and, if anyone who reads my blog wants the same thing, they can’t obtain it. This time, I’m happy to report that you can purchase your own glass of PTL quite easily, and for a cost that’s probably less than $5 (Starbucks prices vary per region so I can’t give an exact price). Read on to see how it compares to the real deal!

Julep August 2014 Maven Swatches, Comparisons, and Nail Art

Hi everyone! I’ve got some polishes from Julep’s August 2014 collection today (Wanderlust) that I swatched individually, and then combined into a sari-themed nail art design (with a tutorial!). Most of the polishes from this month were very vivid shimmers and microglitters, plus one glitter bomb. It’s a very rich and opulent bunch of colors – I love how it all together looks like jewelry! This month I picked the Bombshell box (again) with Neha and Tazeen, and added on Avni (Classic with a Twist) and Waleska (Boho Glam).

The whole collection seems to have been inspired by India, specifically sari colors. I can definitely see how the colors fit the theme, with the vibrant, saturated jewel tones. So I used all of the colors to create sari-inspired nail art! It’s easier than it looks, and I made a tutorial for it if anyone is interested. You can see everything below, starting with swatches:

Disney Series – Prince John’s Crown Inspired Tips + Disneyland! (Long Post)

Hi everyone! Once again, I would like to introduce you to my brand-new Instagram account (@emismanis) that shows my manicures going out and about in the world. I hope you readers appreciate it as a supplement to my blog 🙂

So I didn’t end up posting last week like I said I would because the planning for my Disneyland trip got a bit too hectic, but I am back this week with some more Disney-inspired designs! In my blog post for the first design in this Disney manicure series (this chic Minnie Mouse design), I wrote that my friends and I had been planning a trip to Disneyland for ages that FINALLY happened last week. The lead-up to this trip included me painting my friends’ nails with Disney related designs of their choosing, which was super fun. I only ended up painting two of my friends’ nails plus my own for a total of three designs, but I will feature the other two designs on myself sometime later. The trip was amazing!!! At the end of the post, I’ll post a few vacation photos for you all to look at.

The idea for my Disneyland nails comes from Disney’s 1973 film Robin Hood (yes, the one where the characters are anthropomorphic animals), which my friend Kimi and I were watching when we first hatched the Disney manicure idea. Kimi can correct me on this, but I think I said something like, “So…what Disney character should I paint on my nails?” and Kimi pointed at the screen and said something like, “Dude, Prince John.” Once we bounced around ideas for how a Prince John manicure would look, I really loved the design and went with it. We came up with a manicure based on the Disney villain’s bejeweled crown, into which I incorporated real rhinestones for extra bling and regality. Take a look:

Disney Series – Minnie Mouse Inspired French Tips

Hi everyone! Today I’m starting a series of Disney-inspired manicures, which I am creating in anticipation of an upcoming trip that my friends and I are taking to Disneyland!! YAY!!! So excited! For the trip, I agreed to give each one of my friends coming on the trip a unique manicure inspired by a Disney character, hence the “series” aspect. This first design in the series is inspired by Minnie Mouse, and was originally my friend Kimi’s idea. The design is inspired by Minnie Mouse’s classic red and white polka-dotted outfit, complete with a bow. It is SOOOO adorable, and I love the classic color combo. I like that it is subtle, chic, and wearable rather than wild and crazy.