Snow!

Dec4 by Cheryl Cheryl

When I saw the snowflakes “falling” on the main page of the blog site (yay!), I immediately got excited. I LOVE snow. Love is an understatement.

Now mind you, I’ve been practicing good snowflake designs for like two weeks. And still no presentable snowflakes in sight for my nailbeds. 😦

Now this one from cutepolish vids is adorable….

…. and though I love her designs, and I love using my dotting tool – it seemed too simplified for my lofty expectation of my artistic ATTEMPTS… As I still haven’t mastered even a “neat” snowflake.

then I found this snowflake tutorial. I liked. More dots, but it was a tiny bit more complicated.

I ended up with a sort of in-between snowflake from the two… and I could only withstand the painstaking task on the fingernails of my ring fingers…. this nail art is work! Smile I used the appropriately named “Avalanche” for the base color, and white polish with a very skinny nail striping art brush for the snowflake. I used a glitter polish with a dotting tool for some sparkly spots. When it actually snows here in Chicago [I wish it would hurry up and snow!!], I’m doing a snowflake design – again. (does this one count?)

China Glaze “Avalanche”

The Ohio State University

Dec2 by Cheryl Cheryl

I am from Ohio. First from Dayton, and then we moved to Columbus.

My Dad is a Buckeye fan…. so, of course, SO AM I!!!!

Contributor Dee Dee and I will have a “forever feud” about her wack Michigan team versus those auspicious Buckeyes!! Winking smile

With Monday’s announcement of the new head football coach at The Ohio State University, I felt it was a wonderfully appropriate time to show some Scarlet & Gray love.

Maybelline Express Finish “Racy Red”
OPI “Suzi Takes the Wheel”
white acrylic paint (dots)
Color Club black & white nail art stripers

I took inspiration from Urban Meyer’s press conference tie & mic cover. I may have to practice writing out “Ohio State” with my nail art tools. lol

GO BUCKEYES!

The Ohio State University Nail

The "Française"

Dec1 by Cheryl Cheryl

The French Manicure….

This has got to be the most classic “design” ever. Works for various nail lengths and types (acrylic, gel, natural). Matches everything…and is, weirdly, LOVED by so many men. (I would love for men to explain to me why they love it so.)

It’s refined and, when done well, “finishes” any hand beautifully.

Even, I, with my extreme love of color, can’t deny that the French….. is the crème de la crème.

It will never get old.

Not sure when or by whom it was created… but it’s incredible.

my nails at the beginning of growing back out

Mommie’s nails… she allows a french manicure, but no other color whatsoever
NYC Quick Color “Little Italy” & Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Petal Pusher”

Angela’s gorgeous (and practical) American Shellac (CND)

Angela is a very successful and busy dentist (Healthy Smiles), and one of my dearest and closest friends. She washes her hands probably a billion times a day.

She introduced me to paraffin dips nearly 20 years ago. (Is there any question that she’s a REAL friend?! Smile ) Those things are amazing for moisturizing and soothing!

Shellac is a wise decision for her to maintain a finished look on her hands despite her total “manicure-hazardous” career. lol.

Though this is called an “American”…. it still looks really French to me. haha And is still so very classic and works well for any fashion look.

my nails growing out
NYC Nail Color “French Tip White” & “Love Letters”

I used to paint my white tips freehand, after a basecoat.
Now I take a page from the nail shop. I skip the basecoat, and I straighten the lines of my white tips with an acetone-dipped art brush. Mistake free every time. woo hoo!

The French Manicure will always be in my manicure rotation. Its beauty is timeless.

Blue Skies

Nov29 by Cheryl Cheryl

I had to give the clouds a try. Since I am missing sunny skies…. I created my own. Very cute design.

OPI “What’s With the Cattitude” (Shrek Collection)
w/ acrylic paint (white & yellow)

#period.

Nov27 by Cheryl Cheryl

The actual size of my nailbed, I realize, just doesn’t have THAT much space.

I have a difficult time appreciating extensive nail art with 3D ornamentry (lol, I KNOW it’s not a word – yeah, yeah, ornamentation).

Simply because of the limited area on a fingernail, visually digesting a bunch of rhinestones and feathers, numbers and letters, all at once, is just way too overwhelming for my personal taste…. and thus was born:

the dot

OPI “Black Onyx”

lol.

It was such a statement, I just couldn’t add more. and I love it.

#period

#thatisall

Shelle’s dots

Nov27 by Cheryl Cheryl

My sister finally let me do her nails. She’s more conservative in her approach to color…. I run on the “loud” side of the color spectrum. So we had to have a pre-manicure conversation. I had to remind her that if she didn’t like it……… she could always just take it off…That speaks clearly to how different our tastes are, lol.

She chose a more subtle and cool color approach to her polish color and dotting choice:

OPI “Moon Over Mumbai” w/acrylic paint dots

China Glaze–“Turned Up Turquoise” (neon) (matte)

Nov25 by Cheryl Cheryl

I’m starting to believe that nail polish companies do what they can to keep top coat polish makers in business. Matte colors should NOT bother me…. but they do. I like the brilliance and shine on a freshly painted nail. I attempted to purchase a mattifier top coat… but I couldn’t make myself purchase it. Maybe one day… *shrugs*.

…So, I added a brilliant topcoat shine with Seche Vite to this color too….

At any rate…. This China Glaze “Turned Up Turquoise” is beautiful. I think this is supposed to be a “summer color” but why limit yourself? Life is too short not to have fun…whenever you want!

This color looks so much “greener” to me in real life. Photos seem to only pick up the blue.

China Glaze “Turned Up Turquoise” (Neon)

acrylic paint dots…. Smile

OPI–“You Don’t Know Jacques!”

Nov24 by Cheryl Cheryl

I love requests for polish….. this one I especially loved. This was a wonderful impromptu selection…from an incredible “selector.” The request started as: “a nice warm, autumn-like color, let’s say a gray”…. then the request progressed to a “rich chocolate”.

The result: better than I could have EVER chosen by myself. Perfect for the season and the Thanksgiving holiday.

(this one’s for you… Winking smile …)

OPI – “You Don’t Know Jacques!”
w/ Sinful Colors – “Timbleberry” flower petals

I have SO much to be thankful for! Too many things to count on my happily manicured fingers Smile .

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

China Glaze–“Trendsetter”

Nov23 by Cheryl Cheryl

I needed a cute design to brighten my day because I feel icky. I think I’m fighting the flu and I am not a happy camper. Found a video on nail art created with toothpicks….. came home and tried it:

China Glaze “Trendsetter” with acrylic paint flowers nail art

The little flower seems like the highlight, but this China Glaze color, in all it’s drab undertone, has a BEAUTIFUL shimmer. Little eensy weensy, tiny flecks of gold meandering all through the liquid.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Colors

Nov22 by Cheryl Cheryl

As you can well tell, I’m a Sally Hansen fan! They really have a good thing with their polish formulations. And they have been around FOREVER. I remember my grandmother using the Sally Hansen hardener in the rounded bottle with the pink tint when I was really young…. and that was eons ago. lol. So this brand has staying power. And that stuff is still widely used.

When I was willing my nails to grow and retain length earlier this year, I happened upon the Insta-Dri line of polishes. TIMESAVER! It fulfilled a few goals: 1)pretty nails 2)super low time-commitment 3)frequent change.

It took about 5 minutes for me to manicure my nails from start to finish with these polishes. The very wide brush applicator covers nearly the entire nail, so in just a few sweeps of color you’re done. And it dries within a minute. Smudge possibility: minimal! I generally use two coats, but the polishes have great coverage, so it’s very possible to only need one coat.

When my nails are at their "working length" I chip polish off the tips almost daily…. so I’m consistently changing the polish. Plus, I constantly pick at the polish from the cuticle side of my nails (very bad habit, you should not do this), so my polish never has a huge chance of survival… :-/. The quick-dry feature of this polish solved the issue of not having time to do my nails. Now there is no good reason not to polish your nails.

And this line has a broad range of colors to choose from. Something for everyone.

You have 5 minutes to spare?? Polish your nails!