Nude Diagonal Stripe Nails

Just a quick simple set of nails, using Pretty and Polished's Party on My Yacht and others!

Funky Egyptian Scarab Nails

I pinned the bracelet below thinking it was a cool piece of jewelry but was then inspired to do some nails with the scarab.

I started out with two coats of Boom Boom over Orly Bonder.  I really didn't want to have red nails so I used hot pink as my background color.   I then traced out the scarab body in Taylor.  I lined the body details with Gold Coin.  I used Teal Envy to draw in the legs.  Last, I applied a top coat to each nail.

I love these funky nails!  Now I really want that bracelet:0)

Its a first for me...Dream Steam is now available for another winner!

Dear All:

My 2nd winner never responded to my winning email.  That means that one of you get a 2nd chance to win in my 100 Follower Giveaway!

My newest winner is:   Melissa K.

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Melissa has 48 hours to respond to my e-mail with her address!  She gets "Dream Steam"!

Check your emails regularly, followers, if you enter a lot of giveaways!  You want to get all the awesome polish you are entitled to!! 

Girly Camo Splatter Mani -- Week 22 of the Year of Polish Challenge

The splatter mani is an elusive beast.  At one end you have a giant hot mess and the other you have oblong polka dots.  The perfect splatter mani finds a balance between the two and it takes practice.

I wouldn't say my Girly Camo Splatter mani is perfect but its the best I've done so far:) 

I started with Orly Bonder Base Coat on each nail.  I then painted my nails with two coats of Olympia.  Then using coffee stir straws that I've cut in half I dipped one end of the stir straw into Military Green and blew through the straw, repeating on each finger.  I then followed with Boom Boom, Nude It!, and Loving Lavender.  After a tiny bit of drying time I applied a top coat and the Girly Camo Splatter Mani is done!

100 Follower Giveaway: Great News & Disappointing News

My 100 Follower Giveaway ended yesterday and I am also thrilled to see 30 more followers of Nails, Actually!  I have been live for a little over 6 months with this blog and I love all the comments, encouragement, and emails I've been getting!  I am also learning A LOT from other bloggers and websites about photography, nail art, and web design.  As I get better at those things, I think you'll slowly see Nails, Actually's look and feel evolve too!

Anyway, without further ado, my 100 Follower Giveaway Winners are:

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Jeralee and Desirae have been contacted via email and have 48 hours to respond!

Yay, for you both!!

Now for some disappointing news.   I won't share the details, such as who or what, but the first winner generated this morning was disqualified for an unverifiable entry.   Intentional or not, I did say that I would check all entries.  Please be sure that the information you enter with any giveaway is as accurate as possible, especially links to blog posts, tweets, or FB comments!  I hate that it has to be like this but due to a few bad eggs that troll these giveaways, its the only way to keep it fair!

Not to end on a bad note, I may have another INDIE POLISH giveaway at the end of summer, just cuz!  Stick around, keep making your nails pretty, and let's have some fun!

Classic Daisy Nails

I love black nail polish, I really do...but I have to embellish it.  Plain black polish reminds me too much of 90s goth.  You also know I love free handed flowers on my nails so I came up with these nails.

I started with a layer of Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat on each nail.  I then painted my nails with two coats of Ebony Hates Chris.  Next I used a small nail art brush and made daisy flowers with White On.  After all the flowers dried, I ran over them with Tokyo Pearl to add a pearlized look to each petal.  While Tokyo Pearl was still wet, I dropped a gold microbead in the middle of each flower and pressed them in slightly.  Last, I applied two layers of top coat. 

These were exactly what I envisioned and they are very cute:)

Don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway!!

Go here!

New polishes and Blue Escape Nails

I've had a few nail mails and order come in so its time to share some polish spam!

The polish below was an Etsy purchase from Dandy Nails!  I love the asymmetrical glitter chunks in Funhouse and Wingless and Caught in a Crowd is sooo pretty.  See my nails at the end of this post and I am sure you'll agree!

I bought the three mini polishes from Sparkles by Julie's Etsy store.    These polishes are full of holo glitter.  I can't wait to get them on my fingers!

 I love Avon polishes because they come in very pretty, highly pigmented shades!  The following are my latest Avon buys!

Last, Blue Escape has been calling to me along with Caught in a Crowd so I paired them up for a simple sparkly mani.  My picture is a pitiful recreation of what these nails actually look like.  Never fear, I am on the lookout for a better camera.

Pink and Teal Color Block Nails

Yet another dress that inspired nails!  I am on a roll!

Teal Chevron Nails

Someone pinned this dress on Pinterest and it links back to Lulus.com.  I am not even sure about the name on it because it appears to no longer be available.  At any rate, this concoction was the inspiration for my latest nails. 

I painted my nails with Sally Hansen's White On and then stamped the chevron design on each nail in Ebony Hates Chris.  I then used the teal polish to paint over random parts of my nails.  Last, I topped it off with a stripe of Ebony Hates Chris.  I think this experiment turned out cool!

Pink Cloud Nails

I've seen these nails pinned all over Pinterest with different colors and decided to try it.

These were very easy and didn't take a lot of time:)

Rainbow Glitter Shimmer Nails

I think that these nails take the most polishes used so far prize.  I used 15 polishes of varied brands, types, and colors.

My idea was to do a design with creme colors, shimmery colors, and glitter colors all complimentary of the same shade.  I love how these turned out and plan do something similar soon with half moons or polka dots:)  Even thought these nails required a lot of polish they took very little time to do. 

I simply painted each base coated nail with a creme color, then did a diagonal swipe down each nail with their complimentary shimmery color.  Along that diagonal line I used a nail art brush to place a thin like of complimentary glitter polish.   These are bright, fun, and easy to spice up your nails!  Even just the creme and shimmer polishes along look great!  Try it out and let me see what you come up with:)

So Thrilled! 100 Followers and an Indie Giveaway!!!

Dear Followers:

Nails, Actually has been up and running for almost 6 months! Not only do I have 100 lovely followers but I also have 12,000 page views! A couple of months ago I posed a question to followers inviting you to comment and email me about what you wanted to see in giveaways. Overwhelmingly, you chose my favorite kinds of polish: Indies or Independent polishes. I gravitate towards Indie glitters like a broke moth to a flame mall. So after getting those comments I promptly bought these amazing Victoriana glitter polishes from their Etsy shop and have been admiring them and waiting for that magic 100 follower number to hit! Take a look!

Rules of This Giveaway

*You must be a public GFC follower of Nails, Actually.

*You must live in the United States or a US military base or installation.

*You must be 18 years old or submit written permission from your parents.

*You must respond to a winning email within 48 hours.

*Every entry will be checked and those entering false info or links will be disqualified.

*My first 100 followers automatically get an 2 extra entries as a reward for following!

(This giveaway is in no way affiliated with Facebook)

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Skeleton and Bows Nails: Week 20 of the Year of Polish Challenge

This design was one that I've had in my head awhile.  I finally drew out the design on paper and it is rare, but the drawing was cuter than the nails.  I am too lazy to do them over so here you go!  Nail Fail #4530 lol.

Big Bang Theory Nails AKA Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock

With my myriad of nerdy and science-oriented nails, it should be no surprise that I love the Big Band Theory.  I have all the season of the show and often quote it:) "Soft kitty, warm kitty.." Anyway, this is my Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock nails. Doesn't Spock look hilarious!  Ah, well...I try!!

This design was all free-handed but please ask if you want some tips or have questions!

Glitter Heart Nails

Just playing with glitter recently and did these nails.  They aren't perfect but I still love the effect!

I did a base color in Sally Hansen White On and the one coat of Julep's Ellie.  I then placed hex glitter in heart shapes on my ring and thunb nails.  Last I did one more coat of Ellie over the glitter.

Nail Haul #2

So this haul is an amalgamation of nail mail and gifts!


Deborah Lippmann just released her 3D holos and my dear friend Jaime bought me Ray of Light!  Its so lovely!

 

Ulta had China Glazes on buy 2 and get 1 free so I scored the shimmery glitters including the fabulous Luxe and Lush from the Capitol Colours collection!

 

 

I saw this on a blog sale and really wanted it but just missed out :(  Luckily Ulta had Where Is The Party for 99cent!

I added Fina to my May Julep Maven Box.  Oh my!

My mother-in-law (who is awesome) has heard me go on and on about polish and so she gave me this polish.  Its a shimmery pink and adorable.  Perfect for summer toes!

Denver doesn't have CVS and I forgot to run by CVS when I was in Texas a few weeks ago to get some Spoiled polishes!   So I ordered these from CVS.com!

I love everything about this mini polish set from Ulta.   I haven't decided if Im going to use it or give it away to my followers:0)

Ulta had their polishes on sale for $2 so I bought these six with glee!    Blues and purples and greens and glitters!

 The following polishes are from my May Julep Maven Box.  I haven't really jumped on the magnetic polish bandwagon but I'll try it.  I love, love, love Ellie!

So these latest polishes put me in the upper 300s.  Gah!  What do you do with all that polish...besides love it and use it? 

May Nail Haul #1

This was from a late night Sally's Beauty shopping trip recently.  Finger Paints were on sale and came with the nifty little tote bag below!

 

And for the finale, a rare swatchfest!  I'm totally in love with Inkblot Blue and Mysterious Curse!