52 Week Challenge:(I hate) Valentines Day

Single or not, I hate the crap out of Valentines day. I'm not super girly, or mushy, or one to like expensive jewelry or roses (ok, maybe some black ones), never been one for PDA, and stuffed animals make me want to puke. Call me cynical or jaded. For me just spending time with the person you love maybe getting some good food is all I need.
So, I did somewhat of an anti-Valentines day mani. Still complete with the classic red color scheme but with a hit of badass.

This was a lot of fun to do! It been a while since I freehanded leopard spots, and the heart & crossbones was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be.

 Making that red color was an adventure in layering on it's own!

• 1 coat Sinful Colors-Under 18
• 1 coat China Glaze-Riveter Rouge
• 2 coats Finger Paints- Flashy

I think it was worth it though, because using all those colors and textures gave the color a great depth, in my opinion. 

I tried my best to moisturize my cuticles, but Winter can't be stopped.

 Also I usually don't wear red, so it was a fun change of pace, that I am really enjoying.

 I hope you guys enjoyed it! :)

Venturing into Gels and Acrylics!

Truth be told, I wrote this up months ago, so you can see my level of procrastination. hah

Oh hey guys!! I'm back(ish). Life's been crazy, and I've been quite uninspired in all artistic aspects of my life, including nails. Also my nails have been breaking like crazy and are nubs, hence why I decided to try the whole acrylic tips thing. From what I've read the soak off gels, are the least damaging to the nails as well. Hopefully when they grow out a little I can ditch the tips and just stick with some gel, so these babies don't keep breaking on me.

Here's the results of  my first attempt at venturing into soak gels with acrylic tips. I think it came out decent, but I have a long way to go!

• Acrylic tips
• IBD Dehydrate 
• IBD Clear gel
• IBD Builder gel
• ECO Soak Off Gel Color in Bare Foot Pink (2 coats I believe)
• Clear gel mixed with some AC Moore glitter, trying to make it as flat as possible
• Another thin coat of Clear 
• For the leopard spots just a no name Hot Topic polish and some black stripping polish 
• Topped it all off with a coat of the IBD UV Top Coat. I found you can use regular polish on top of the gels, with the UV Top Coat, and it lasts pretty much as long as the nails last, with maybe just a little cracking of the polish. 

My thoughts:
Truth be told these were a little thick, but after a few days I got used to them. The glitter on in the tips is a little messy.

I used the IBD Soak Off Gel System, (bought it here, http://www.8ty8beauty.com/uv-gels/uv-gels.htm, as I've said before, I love these guys!) for these. It's a great starter kit for gels!

One last nautical themed nail..

I really had to get in a nautical nail post before the end of the Summer! I love the whole nautical theme, partly because it meshes so well with rockabilly/pinup style, which I have somewhat of an obsession with. I don't necessarily dress like it...I mean I would say my style meshes multiple genres.. I wear bows in my hair, have piercings, funky colored hair, vary from wearing cute little dresses to jeans, t-shirts and Converse. Sooo.. yeah. hah

I digress, back to nails again.

Ignore the huge chunk out of my middle finger..

The anchor could be a little less messy.. meh...

*I'll add the polish names a little later, just wanted to get this post up*