Lisa Frank Inspired Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

Born in the 1980s, my sister and I were ALL about Lisa Frank. If you don't know who that is, she is my childhood. We would walk around school with our sticker books trading different neon rainbow goodness and it was just awesome. Simply google "Lisa Frank" and your screen will vomit rainbows and unicorns and neon-tinted puppies.

Starting with a base of two coats of Illamasqua Noble, I used a bright but not distracting base for the nail art. I could have stopped at one coat, but went with two out of habit. Using a variety of neon nail polishes, I took my biggest dotting tool and created random dots, some overlapping each other and some going over the tip of my nails. There is no rhyme or reason to this; anyone can do these bubbles. The more random they look, the better. Then with a plain white creme and my thinnest striping brush, I did an outline of the bubble.

Then I created my unicorn using a white, black, and grey creme. I used China Glaze Pink Plumeria mixed with white for the ears and nose. Her horn and mane match the neon bubbles on the surrounding fingers. She reminds me of the colors and unicorns Lisa Frank used to create. Make sure to enlarge the pictures to see more of the detail.

 Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

 Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

 Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

 Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

Unicorn Rainbow Nail Art

I love being inspired by items from my childhood. It makes for more personal nail art and I usually love the outcome much more.

Do you have a favorite nail art inspired from your childhood?

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NOTD: NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

Another NOTD, so it's short and sweet. NOPI Kim-pletely in Love (blech). Got it at CVS when it was half off and I had some extra care bucks expiring so it was free. Nice palate cleanser. FOUR coats. But still pretty.

NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

NOPI Kim-pletely in Love

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Chanel Malice, Ozotic 531, and a Comparison

So I had no Chanels and everyone was in a frenzy for Malice. I looked at pictures and decided not to get it because it looked so close to OPI Royal Rajah Ruby. Then a friend sent me an awesome package with this Chanel, saying everyone needed at least one Chanel (isn't she amazing??). So Chanel Malice--two easy coats. I wore it alone for a day. This one needed top coat to bring out the beauty. You'll see that Seche Vite pulled the Chanel from my cuticles a bit--so next time I'll use a different top coat.

Chanel Malice

Chanel Malice

Then, I removed the ring finger and added two coats of OPI Royal Rajah Ruby. In almost ALL lighting, these two colors look the same, but you can see in the last photo, Royal Rajah Ruby is a touch more brown-toned. Close, but no cigar.

Chanel Malice with OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

Chanel Malice with OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

Chanel Malice with OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

Then I added one coat of Ozotic 531 on the ring finger. 531 is a holographic duochrome polish, and woah is it awesome or what?! To tie the mani together, I quickly added some descending dots to the other fingers. The Chanel still shines, but the Ozotic adds some fun.

Chanel Malice with Ozotic 531

Chanel Malice with Ozotic 531

Chanel Malice with Ozotic 531

Chanel Malice with Ozotic 531

So do you own Malice or any of its dupes?

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Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Continuing my broken nail saga, as the middle nail break began to grow out (and was less painful), I started wearing special polishes. Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail is a polish that can look really good or really bad on people. I took my chances! One thing I noticed--I "charged" my bottle to see how it glowed and all the glow pigment was on the bottom so make sure to shake it up or even stick a toothpick in it to break it up and disperse the glow pigment.

First I was disappointed because the polish didn't look holographic nor did it glow. Maybe it just needed to dry, but it turned out to be awesome!! I couldn't get great glow pictures, but trust me, it did truly glow. 

Something about Nerd Lacquer polishes just works so well with my body. They wear like iron and never chip. I can get away with wearing a Nerd Lacquer for a week! They are awesome. I for sure thought I would need to layer Holy Grail, but it was completely opaque in two coats!

First, side to side. This looks like two different polishes!

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Sun pictures:

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

 Indirect Light:

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

Nerd Lacquer Holy Grail

I still haven't worn all my Nerd Lacquers, but this is up there as one of my favorites! What is your favorite?

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Broken Nail NOTDs

As the post's title suggests, these were my broken nail NOTDs. I noticed a tear in my middle nail and delicately tried to remove my nail polish so I could patch it, but my nail was like NOPE, and completely ripped off. I did try out a bunch of polishes and STAMPING (woah) while it was broken, so I thought I would share with you. Please don't judge me too hard. It was difficult NOT doing nail art for two weeks, so I tried fun colors.

First, Orly Peaceful Opposition. I never ever would have bought this color. It is just so not me. I won it in an Orly giveaway, and blech to wearing this on its own. I wore one coat of Orly Au Champagne (my favorite white) and one coat Peaceful Opposition. I have to say this was delicate and really grew on me.

Orly Peaceful Opposition

Orly Peaceful Opposition

Orly Peaceful Opposition

Next was Julie G gumdrops in Tangerine Dream. Two easy coats and I noticed it matched my mom's car! LOVE these textured polishes and they even look great on toes!

Julie G Tangerine Dream

Julie G Tangerine Dream with Flash

Julie G Tangerine Dream

Lastly, here's a ridiculous manicure I wore. Two coats of China Glaze Haunting and one coat of Kleancolor Chunky Holo black (should have stopped there). Then I tried my first stamping with Zoya Trixie. It wasn't awful--if anything perhaps too busy? Then I added some nail art glitter accents. Can you say busy?

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black with Stamping

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black with Stamping

Ok well I have a few other manis that were just too special to plop into this post--but the break grew out a bit, so it doesn't look as awful. Hope you didn't mind looking at my uneven nails!

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Purple Nails for World Lupus Awareness Month

Friday was World Lupus Awareness Day and to commemorate this, with others, I am sporting some purple nails. It may seem like nothing, "oh big deal, purple nails can't fix anything." But they can definitely spread awareness about a disease that isn't so familiar to the public.

You can educate yourself by heading over to the World Lupus Day website to read more. Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession picked out a great paragraph about the illness, so I figured I would do the same:  "Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs ("foreign invaders," like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues ("auto" means "self") and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.  Every day, more than 5 million people worldwide struggle with the often debilitating health consequences of lupus, a potentially fatal autoimmune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body, including the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain."  The Lupus Foundation of America website is also a great site full of resources and information.

Unfortunately, I was running low on time and left my dotting tools and striping brushes elsewhere, so I couldn't do any beautiful butterflies, which are the official symbol of Lupus. I created this mani with two coats of Illamasqua Poke. Then I added a diagonal of Ulta Purplexed. Lastly, I used Milani Hi-Res to separate the purples. I love doing this look. It's easy, fast, and visually interesting. I lost the sun so the colors aren't 100% accurate. At the end of the post, make sure you check out other bloggers who are also supporting World Lupus Awareness Month!   

 

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Cirque Polish New Collection Preview, Haul, and Brooklyn Fun

Sorry for the late night post, but sometimes these things are NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW. I last minute decided (as in, late last night) to attend Cirque's sample sale and I am SO glad I did. Originally, I was going to send my sister and wrote her a meticulous list of my epic wants. But, seeing that new collection in person and meeting Annie, the creator and maker of Cirque Polish, made it worth it!

Annie was so down to earth and said I was more than welcome to take pictures, so I thought I would give you the scoop. The new collection is a mix of glitter toppers, holographic polishes, metallics, and opaque glitters. There is something for everyone (and even my sister, who isn't obsessed with polish like me, bought something!)

I was a good girl and only bought four from the new collection, but did get 8 others. First, here are the nail wheel swatches. Right now the polishes and collection do not have names, but I can't wait to here the theme!

First, we have the metallics, opaque glitters, and holographic polishes. I mentioned to Annie that the blue looked like the elusive OPI DS Glamor and she said she didn't have that one, so she recreated it. It looks SPOT ON! You'll want to enlarge these. 

Cirque Polish New Collection

 Here are the glitter toppers which are amazing. We've got a metallic square glitter topper, matte rainbow topper, a pastel glitter, an iridescent glitter/flakie. Really, everyone will be satisfied.

Cirque Polish New Collection

Here are close ups on the new collection polishes that I purchased. Again, these aren't named yet.

There are stars in the one on the right!

 

Here is the other 8 from my haul from earlier collections.

Top Row L to R: Cypress, Lonesome George, Fascination Street, Alter Ego

Bottom Row L to R: Galinda, French Roast, XX, Ophelia

Despite the humidity and terrible thunderstorms, my sister and I walked to the Brooklyn Smorgasburg Food Flea Market when we were done with Artists and Fleas. We got an amazing vegetarian chorizo arepa (which I posted on my Instagram) and a homemade s'mores. We tasted crazy chocolates and had a wonderful day. Lastly, we finished the night at Veneiro's, our favorite Italian pastry place in Manhattan.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this quick preview of the new collection! Have a great rest of your weekend.

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