Swatch – Sally Hansen Cancer Moon

Hi everyone! I have a quick swatch post today about a brand new polish for this season! Sally Hansen put out an entire collection with their Complete Salon Manicure line that was based off of the western zodiac. While I don’t care much for astrology, I still wanted to check it out because, well, nail polish. I ended up liking a number of the colors and may end up acquiring a few, but for now, I settled for just one: my zodiac sign! Cancer Moon appealed to me partly because it’s based off of my zodiac sign, and partly because it’s unique to my collection. It’s quite a nice, understated neutral with a bit of gleam to it that makes it special. This is definitely a great addition to my sparse collection of neutral polish!

Disney Series – Frozen Queen Elsa Glittery Snowflakes

Hi everyone! I finally got around to finishing my series of Disney-inspired nail art, which was prompted by a trip my friends and I took to Disneyland in July! A while ago, I offered to give each of my friends, plus myself, a manicure inspired by a Disney character of their choice before the trip – 5 designs in total. Unfortunately, I only managed to get three of the five planned designs done on their/my nails before heading off to Disneyland. But I’m featuring them all on myself on this blog because they’re all amazing (hence the series)! Previous designs were based on:

1. Minnie Mouse
2. Prince John from Robin Hood
3. Tangled sun design
4. Princess Anna from Frozen

 

In my last Disney Series post (Princess Anna), I said that the final manicure of the series was going to be about Queen Elsa from Frozen. Because how could you not do super glittery and shiny Queen Elsa nails? Think of the opportunities! Plus, she’s the trendiest thing Disney has come out with in recent history, so it’s almost a given that I was going to ride the seemingly unstoppable Frozen train for a little bit. So here they are:

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!

My Favorite Things Series – Red and Gray Poppy Bedding

Hi everyone! I have a new post in the “My Favorite Things” series today (nail art inspired by my stuff). Design #1 was based off of a starry scarf and Design #2 was meant to look like a pair of dichroic glass earrings. This time, I’m showing off some nail art that looks like my bedding! A little over a year ago, I bought an awesome duvet cover from Bed Bath & Beyond by a brand named notNeutral that has some bright red poppy-like flowers and light gray leaves on top of a darker gray background. I really love home decor like this because it has everything I like: florals, bright colors, and graphic print. Also, the family dog’s name is Poppy, and so – not gonna lie – I was partly drawn to it because it has poppies on it. The bedding is actually still available to look at on the Bed Bath & Beyond website, but it is no longer for sale online. You can find it on Wayfair, if you’re interested in buying it (it’s $80 I think).

Disney Series – Tangled Sun Half Moons + Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today I have the third installment of Disney-themed manicure series that I originally designed in anticipation of my trip with my friends to Disneyland, which happened last week. As I have said in some previous posts, I offered to paint my friends’ nails prior to the trip with designs they wanted, and ended up painting two designs on them (I still have two more that I haven’t done yet). So far in the series, I’ve featured this Minnie Mouse-inspired French tip design for my friend Kimi, and a manicure of Prince John’s crown that I designed for myself. The newest addition to the Disney series is this Tangled-inspired design that uses the sun motif from the movie in a half moon manicure. My friend Emma picked up this idea from the various other designs on the internet, and I augmented the basic idea to make it more interesting and complex. I had to make the design (very) abbreviated on her due to time constraints (you can see it by clicking on the Prince John link), so I executed the full look on myself. This post even has a picture tutorial for the design (my first tutorial ever!!!) so you all can see the process. Here is the result:

Southwest Cactus Landscape – Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Contest

Hi everyone! I’ve created another manicure that I want to share: this awesome desert landscape with a bunch of cacti! Since this mani turned out so well, I will be submitting a photo of my nails to the Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art contest. For this month and the next two months, Sally Hansen is holding a nail art contest inspired by different themes. The theme for this month is “Color Destinations”, so I figure this design inspired by the American Southwest fits the bill. I worked really hard on this design, and I like the result, so I think it would be great to participate in the contest. If you want to vote for me, you can do so here:

http://www.sallyhansen.com/i-heart-nail-art/contest/entry-emismanis-1400816457