Manicure Monday! featuring e.l.f.'s "Thunderstorm"

Today's manicure is a little more seasonal than the past few. Take a look.

To get this look:

I started with Orly's Bonder Base Coat, as usual. Then two coats of e.l.f.'s Essential Nail Polish in "Thunderstorm." I'll talk more about that little beauty later. For the accent nail, I layered one coat of Revlon's "Stunning." And then, as usual, finished with Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

I really love e.l.f.'s "Thunderstorm." On the website, the swatch shows it as being a really dark, grey-ish taupe-ish color, but as you can tell, when it's on the nails in natural light, it's pretty darn green. It can look navy, though, depending on the lighting, and I had a lot of double takes from my friends as they tried to determine what color it really was. Regardless, I love the color, and for two bucks, it's a great polish that goes on smooth and is perfectly opaque with two coats (you may be able to get away with one, even). I've been pretty satisfied with e.l.f.'s polishes overall, and when they redid the formula last year they came out with some great new colors. You can get "Thunderstorm" and more here.

Thanks for checking in. Have a happy Monday.

Manicure Monday! (On a Tuesday)

So I was very busy yesterday, and as much as I would love to say that my blogwork is more important than my schoolwork, I just don't think I can say that. It's probably not allowed.

So here is yesterday's manicure. It's another one from this past summer, well, because I just can't take the cold any more. I'm rebelling. Going on strike, you might say, from working through this terrible, terrible winter. 

Here it is :)

I like the french manicure, but I can only pull it off in the summer. My nails get too short from the cold and the chores I do in the winter. My only problem with them is that I can never seem to get the tips as perfect as I would like them to be, so this time around I covered the whole look in some sparkles. IMPORTANT: Any nail looks that ends up streaky or less than perfect can be "covered" with a good coat of glitter. Glitter is fabulous; it literally makes up for the mistakes of other polishes. Thank your glitters.

Polishes I Used:

Orly's Bonder Base Coat

Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in "Pink Slip" (2 coats)

Avon's Nail Art Enamel in "White" (But you should try to find a white that you like, and even try out some different nail art brushes to see what you can make work best. The tips are always the worst. I did them free hand also, since I haven't found a taping method that I like very much.)

Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails in "Disco Ball"

Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat

Here are some more pictures, just in case you'd like to look at my nails for a little longer. The lighting did not do the sparkle justice, but I did what I could.

 You guys are great. I've got lots of new things I am working on. Give me a few more days and there should be some very exciting things happening on Curly Girlie.

Manicure Monday! Neutral + Sparkle Ombre

Welcome. Today is another Manicure Monday!

This is one of my favorite looks for a neutral nail, and I have to admit, it was inspired by a manicure I saw on The Only Way is Essex, which is kind of like the British version of The Hills. It is a decidedly guilty pleasure. One of the girls in the show had a taupey-brown polish, like the one I used, with rhinestones along the cuticle of an accent nail. It was flipping perfect.

To get this look, I used:

Orly's Bonder Basecoat
Two coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Megalast Salon Nail Color in "Wet Cement"
Ulta's Nail Lacquer in "Chic Peek" (it's a super old polish, so just try to find something that is darker brown and shimmery, if you're looking to try this out)
L.A Colors's Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer. I don't know what the color is called, it's just the silver glitter one.
I topped it off with Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

In order to get the sparkly ombre, I applied the polish with small sponge applicators, the kind you get with small, usually drugstore brand eyeshadow palettes. Then I put some blobs of color on a plastic baggy, which I dipped the sponge in. From there, I kind of just winged it, and tried to get the majority of the polish by the cuticle. Then I just used less as I moved toward the tip of the nail. Sponges work great for this because they hold product for awhile, so you shouldn't have to keep dipping. The Ulta color is underneath the silver, and I took it up a little higher to give the look another layer of sparkle. It's subtle in the picture, but I like the effect it has under the silver. If you want to see all this in action, be sure to comment and I'll see about filming this whole process for you :)

Thanks for reading. And see you tomorrow.