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 🙂

Purple Duochrome Swirls with Zoya

Hi everyone! Today I have some two-color nail art today that features two purple polishes from Zoya! While I’m still busy with all my crazy work this month, I still found some time to do this in between all of my responsibilities; of course, it does help that one of my biggest tasks got postponed to November/December…

Anyways, this design was prompted by my recent discovery of Zoya Adina (a purple-based duochrome with a green shift). I found myself entranced by this magical photo of Adina that Zoya posted a month ago on its social media sites, and couldn’t resist getting it once Zoya put out some great promotional deals. I mean, seriously amazing promotions. So good that I basically bought my entire polish wishlist in one order. That’s one of the best things about Zoya: when they have a sale, they have a SALE. One of the other polishes I bought in that order was Margo, which is one of the new polishes from the Entice Fall 2014 collection. It’s a highly saturated medium grape purple creme, and I love it! This shade is so flattering on my skin tone, and I’m very fond of how vivid and intense it is. It made total sense in my mind to pair Margo with Adina, since they are both great purple shades and they look good together. I chose to do these soft swirls to give Adina a chance to shine without being overwhelming.

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!

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:

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.

Purple Swipes Nail Art Featuring Zoya Perrie

Hi everyone! I’ve got some more simple nail art this week that uses a bunch of pretty purples – mostly the orchid-y Zoya Perrie. It’s nothing fancy, but it still looks nice.  I apologize for the finish being dull; I sprayed a bunch of alcohol-based perfume around and some of it got on the nails of my left hand.

Framed Manicure – Julep Zora and JulieG Golden Sunset

Hi everyone! I decided to do some subtle nail art in some subtle colors this week. The suggestion for this look came from my mom, who saw a couple colors I swatched and thought it would be nice if I painted my nails with the light pink (Julep Zora) and bordered it with gold (JulieG Golden Sunset). She meant French tips, but I took the idea of “bordered” to the next level and did fully framed nails instead. I’d never done this style before, so it was good to try. They came out really well, and the result looks very sophisticated to me. Besides, it is nice to have less wild nail art for a change sometimes.