Cowboys Half Moon Mani

 The Cowboys lost. How did this happen?? They were winning and then they had to just be plain stupid and lose their first freaking game. Now they are 0-1. Grr... as Ni hao Kai-lan would say, "I'm so mad!" The only plus side to their loss last night is that I get to redo my nails, yay!

 Let's move on to today's post before I ramble some more about the Cowboy's suckage. Hehe. I used Sally Hansen's Celeb City for the half moon and for the background on my accent nail. The navy polish is Nina Ultra Pro in Sailor. I am not great at freehand, so I used some hole reinforcements as guides. This was the first time I attempted to do a half moon mani and I didn't plan on outlining the half moon, but due to my less than perfect outcome, it was necessary. The tattoo decal was purchased on Ebay from seller Lucky Star Style for $1.80 for 20 decals with free shipping. (No affiliation, just a great deal.)

 The application of the decals can be a little tricky, but here are some tips that helped me:

• Cut as closely as possible to the image, that way less of the "clear" portion of the tattoo will show.
• To get accurate placement, use tweezers rather than your fingers to position the decal on your nail.
• You want to leave the plastic backing on the tattoo when cutting out the image because the tattoo is sticky and it will adhere to your fingers and mess up the design.
• Since you are leaving the plastic backing on and cutting as closely as possible to the image, you will find it difficult to remove the plastic backing once you are done cutting. This is where the tweezers will come in handy. Actually, if you have to pairs of tweezers it would be much better. You can hold the tattoo with one pair of tweezers and with the other you can slide the tip in to start removing the backing. That way your fingers will have no contact with the tattoo, leaving the design intact.
• The last thing is you don't want to submerge the tattoo in water when applying. A cloth, cotton or felt with some water is the best way to apply tattoos. You want to just lightly dab on the tattoo until the paper falls off.

 In real life the tattoo isn't too noticeable as it seems in the first two pictures, that's just the macro doing it's job. The last two pictures are a better representation as to how they actually look in real life. Regardless of imperfections and *ahem Cowboys sucking ahem* I was pleased with the outcome, especially the accent nail!

I would love to get some feedback, so what are your thoughts? What colors would you use for your favorite sports team?

Sally Hansen Water Marble Week: The Real Teal

 Today's post features Xtreme Wears in Black Out, Celeb City and The Real Teal. I have never done a base color other than white, but this color scheme makes me want to try it. Since I used white I had to use two drops of black each time I dropped polish in, and I should have used two of the silver as well. The only thing is I'm not sure how well the teal will show up if I used, say a black base.

 In the shade.

In the sun. My index finger's nail isn't bent like it seems, it's just that I didn't think I had enough silver so I tried to go in with the polish's brush and add some more sparkle. I wish I hadn't though, because while it did look shiny, it made the look messy.

Fail. This was the first hand I tried doing and well, I'll let the picture speak for itself.

 I also fudged up by using a top coat other than Seche Vite on this. Other top coats smear the colors into each other if they aren't quite dry, but Seche Vite is great for nail art because it gives you quick dry time without the muss. 

Tuesday's Nail Art: Neon Flowers

   I was watching Food Network Challenge on Sunday and the cakes were supposed to be about the 80's time era. Pretty much everyone was using neon colors, since those were popular back in those days and it just made me crave neon on my nails. I have never worn neon colors on their own because I think they're really loud but lately I've been on a neon buying frenzy. I suppose I owe that to all those girls out there strutting around with their neon colors. I love they way they look on other people, but I still haven't tried the solid neon look on my nails. ( I hope my husband doesn't end up reading this, or else he'll be even more upset about my nail polish buying if he finds out I'm buying colors that I don't necessarily wear!)   

   I'm still not ready to do the solid neon but I did come up with this idea to incorporate neon without being too loud. These are the products I used: M.A.C. Vestral White, Orly Va Va Voom, Sinful Colors Irish Green, Sally Hansen Celeb City and Finger Paints Top Coat.

   I started off with M.A.C Vestral White. I have been searching for a good white color and I still haven't been able to find one. This actually took 4 thin layers to prevent the streaking from showing up. I don't like to apply so many layers but it does end up looking really nice if you just work with it. 

   I am going to be doing 4 flowers on each nail, two pink ones and two green ones. I alternated the position of the flowers to make them seem random. To make the flowers you just need to place four dots as if dotting the corners of an imaginary square. I did two fingers at a time because the "lines" on the flowers are formed better if the polish is a bit tacky. Once it's a little tacky, I used a dotting tool to make the "lines". I started from the middle of each dot and dragged the polish towards the center. This will give the flower a more realistic look.

   Here I did the same with Sinful Colors Irish Green.

   After all your flowers are done, using the same dotting tool, I placde silver dots using Celeb City in the middle of the flowers. I chose silver rather than yellow because I wanted to give the design a more blingy look.

   It's not visible in the pictures but once you add the top coat. OMG. It just makes the whole design that much better. The top coat fills in all the "lines" that were created and makes it look really flawless.

   Here is a sun picture. Even though the design is flowers, I feel that it has that summery look because of the neon colors. Hope you enjoyed!