#GoRed Nails For #NationalWearRedDay 2016

I don't always post nails for each holiday or special day, but this is one I've been doing since last year (you can check that out here).

I just think this is such an important cause and awareness is everything. You hear a lot about other diseases but this is one that can sneak up without any symptoms. It may sound cheesy and cliché but knowledge really is power.

I used my favorite red, Salon Perfect - He's With Me on my thumb and for the half moon nails, then Wet N' Wild MegaLast - I Red A Good Book on my middle finger and for the edge on my accent nail. The cheetah spots are Wet N' Wild - Black Creme.

It's probably no surprise that a day to raise awareness of the heart is so close to Valentine's Day, and these nails are perfect for that too!

Thankful Vibes #ootd

It's been an absolutely insane year. Insane in a not good way. My uncle, who took many of my pictures that I've posted here through the years passed away during the summer, after two years bravely battling cancer. I know I've mentioned him quite a bit here and in the months since, I've missed him so much, especially during special occasions when he'd be the one taking pictures.

Thanksgiving is one of those occasions. I think the holidays in general can be incredibly hard after such a loss. Suddenly, that empty seat becomes all the more glaringly obvious.

In a nod to him I went out and got my first "fancy" camera, a Sony a5100. With a tripod and the mobile app, I can use my iPhone as a remote to take pictures of myself. Of course, I'm holding my phone in the pics and I miss having his company but I've been thrilled with the quality. It's not for nothin' that so many makeup artists and gurus love this camera.

So I present to you my first post in a long long while, and I dedicate it to my sweet uncle who was always happy and willing to take pictures for me to post.

Hat, choker, necklace & rings// Forever 21

Shoes// Hot Topic

Top// unknown

Skirt// Gifted

Nails// Wet N' Wild Wild Shine - Black Creme
            Wet N' Wild - Naughty and Iced

So can we talk for a second about my pink hair? I've always went to a salon to do my dip dyed pink streaks, and I happened to go the same day my uncle had to move to a home to be cared for. I went to visit him after I got done and he loved the pink and started talking to me about the show Kawaii International and about Japanese fashion. He was just THAT cool. My pink washed out but I wanted to do it myself for his birthday so I ordered Jerome Russell Punky Colour in the shade Flamingo Pink to try it out.

Unfortunately I ended up having to use the pink for his celebration of life instead of his birthday but I'm so in love with this dye that I've had it in ever since.

It's bright and happy and reminds me to him. And for that I'm thankful.

Pink Leopard Freehand

Hey guys! I've been super busy lately and I've been doing a lot of Spring cleaning. The day after my remix post I painted my nails with Wet N' Wild Wild Shine - Tickled Pink, a pretty light pink creme that I picked up while WnW was 69 cents at Rite Aid. I'm not sure if it was the WnW or the Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Clearly Quick that I put on top, but this stayed on SO GOOD. Really, I did so much cleaning and these babies didn't chip a bit!

I've been wanting to try doing leopard print by hand instead of using my Konad M57.  I went with THIS tutorial by Rebecca to learn how to do it. I picked Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Espresso for the colored spots and used Wet N' Wild Wild Shine - Black Creme to outline. As usual, I wielded a toothpick as my tool of choice. "Wielded" makes everything sound more hardcore, doesn't it?

I think I did ok. I didn't have the tutorial page up to look at while I did it, and I did these a few days after reading the tutorial, so I'd do it a bit differently on my next attempt. I'm satisfied though!

Do you call this leopard or do you call it cheetah?

Miss DeVious DiVa Likes Rebecca Likes Nails

Hey guys, the title there pretty much speaks for itself. I've been a fan of Rebecca's nail art since Emerald Sparkled featured her on her site with her polka dot hearts mani ummm a year ago? I don't even remember haha.

I didn't really want to take off my Hunger Games mani but it started chipping and the glitter was coming off. AND I kinda HAD to enter this contest. HAD TO. Just because of the 5 themes of the contest, because I love all 5 of those too.

I based part of it off a mani that I remember Rebecca did based on a pink and silver dress she found on Pinterest. That's where that came in, and I decided to do a sideways gradient. I stamped the animal print and I did the Hello Kittys & the bows by hand with a toothpick.

Here's my left hand:

 Left thumb:

Right hand:

 Right thumb:

I used:
China Glaze - Millennium (base on pointer, middle, & pinky fingers)
Sinful Colors - Bianca (part of gradient, base on thumb & ring fingers, Hello Kitty's nose & bow)
Pure Ice - Crush (part of gradient, bow on thumb & ring fingers)
Claire's - Snow Ball (Hello Kitty's head, outline on bow)
Konad M57
Wet N' Wild Wild Shine - Black Creme (animal print stamping,  Hello Kitty's eyes & whiskers)

I hope you guys like it! It's been a rainy day out here in Cali so there wasn't any sun to take pics in. Good luck to everyone entering the contest!

Pink Leopard

Here's another pink animal print mani that I did to match my clothes. I actually got a compliment on it. By a guy too! Guys who can appreciate pink leopard must be pretty cool. This might be the first time I've gotten complemented on something with art and not just something simple.

 

See the lighter stamping on the pinky? That was done with regular Hot Topic black creme polish. My Konad Special Black Polish got realllllly thick so I tried the Hot Topic and then tried mixing the two, which worked. So if your stamping polish is thick you can add a similar thinner color to it to make it useable!

I used Sinful Colors - Bianca for the base
a mix of Konad Black Special Polish and Hot Topic Black creme
Pure Ice - Crush for the pink spots