About to do my nails at my very messy nail station 💅#nailart #nailpolish #neverenoughpolish

These are from way long ago when I still had my claws.  Half moons always look classy.

So I’m a bit rusty, but it’ll come back.  Just some simple lines on grey and purple.

Hey everyone

I’m back!  I apologize for not having updated my blog in far too long.  I’ve been going through a difficult time these past few months and nail art has not been a priority.  But I have seriously missed blogging.  I love sharing my nail art and seeing what everyone else is doing.  I am making an effort to get back into blogging regularly, and getting inspired daily.  I have a new set of nails that I plan on posting very soon.

Thanks to everyone who has ever liked or reblogged, or even just looked at my nails and thought “hey- I like that.”  It always makes me happy to hear your feedback and know that there are like-minded nail art loving individuals out there.

You are all awesome.  Keep painting dem nails.

I thought I’d do a sort of review of the ciaté caviar nails manicure for those of you who might still be curious about it.  I know it’s been out for a while and I’ve read other reviews myself that have been somewhat negative.  My experience was actually quite positive, but I went into it with low expectations.

Anyways!  The application…  The instructions say to do one coat of the nail polish on all fingers then go back and do a second coat nail by nail, adding the beads immediately after each second coat.  The nail polish they provide is probably one of the worst i’ve ever used.   It applies like oil, very streaky and thin.  I know in most of the reviews I read, there were complaints that the beads start falling off almost immediately after the manicure is finished. I think it’s due to the quality of the polish, so what I did was apply two coats of the nail polish like a normal manicure, then used my seche vite topcoat and applied the beads to the topcoat while it was still wet, nail by nail.  I also used a toothpick (an orange stick would work too) immediately after each application to clean around the edges of my nails and cuticles to remove the excess beads.  The key to this manicure is to work one nail at a time and to leave about 2 mm of space like a frame all around each nail (closer to 1 mm at the tips) free of beads to give it a clean look.  This also makes it last longer because the beads around the edges are the first to go.

The end results were amazing.  I got lots of compliments from friends, family and complete strangers.  Did the beads start coming off?  Yes, a bit, but that’s unavoidable.  I’m on day two of wear and they still look good, although some of the blue beads have discolored to silver from washing my hands (it doesn’t look bad though).  

My biggest complaint would be on the quality of their nail polish.  All the other components (the tray, the funnel, the beads) work really well.  I would also suggest that if you do this for a night out, make sure it’s the last thing you do before you leave the house so you don’t ruin them trying to get dressed or doing your hair.  So overall I am a fan, and will probably be doing these again :)

Caviar nails from Ciaté. I should’ve taken the pictures right after I did them, but this is the day after and I think they still look good.

Get that glow

I should just start coordinating all my nail art to the flowers in my yard.

Hot pink gradient with shine of the times layered over it.

I have a pair of scrapbooking scissors that cut in a zig zag, and was hit with the sudden inspiration to use them for a tape mani.  Definitely like the outcome but I think they look too busy. I have to try this again with less colors and maybe more uniform widths.