Cinco de Mayo

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Did you know that the United States celebrate this holiday more than Mexico?  And in Chandler, Arizona, people race Chihuahuas. Also over 100 million avocados get eaten on this day.

Are you doing anything special?

I did a mani especially for this day. I used Wet n Wild Blank Canvas for the white base, and everything else is acrylic paint, topped by some topcoat.

Love ya,

Nicole @nailatrocity

Star Wars Nails

Sometimes I have no clue what to put on my nails. And when that happens, I can always go to the actual day of the month. Who doesn’t celebrate Star Wars Day. Never heard of it before until I started doing nails 2 days ago, joking.

I used white nail polish that bubbled up on me from the death shake I had to give it because I let it sit too long (Wet n Wild Blank Canvas) and my ol’ trusty black acrylic paint. Can you see the bubbles? I wonder how many days does it take before it won’t bubble up. How are you celebrating this official-unofficial holiday?

I did these nails for May the Fourth.

Yes, I am a Candy Crush Addict

Follow my blog with Bloglovin And I am not ashamed, I think I am on level 270 something. I even pass my family's levels for them, when they are stuck. But, I can control myself and take long breaks from it, although, I always return. I can believe it is the number one grossing app on iTunes. I refuse to spend money on it, it is a free game.

I do have a love/hate relationship with this game. It is the only game I play that I talk to it (ok, maybe scream). Those bombs get on my everlasting nerves right about now, ugh. Anyhoo, enjoy my candy crush nails. It took me two days, with a whole bunch of breaks in between. Seems synonymous of how much time I spend on the game.

I used the new Pop Art Collection from Wet n Wild. I bought the whole collection, 69 cents a pop. Love me some deals.

The blue is Teal Slowly and See, the green is Stand the Test of Time, and the sort of purple gradient situation on the pinky and pointer is Who is Ultra Violet. The rest, you know it, acrylic paint.

How to Make S'mores

S'mores is my family's summer favorite. Although we may not warm our marshmallows over a fire, my kids can make them anytime with the microwave. Go figure. Regardless, it is still yummy. So in my mind, I had to do me some s'mores nails. You need all the ingredients pictures and then you put them together and enjoy.

The colors I used were, Revlon's Hot For Chocolate on the pinky, Sinful Color's Rainstorm for the dark blue, Color Club (a no namer from Ross) for the light blue, and Maybelline's ColorShow in Bare Escape for the pointer. The rest is acrylic paint.

Nautical

I am loving all the nautical things on nails. But honestly, I really can't wait until fall/winter colors for nail polish comes out. I was not really impressed with the nail collection releases this summer. Did you? I am just looking forward to a change.

But here is my nails, and I used SC Shine in Wisp and blue acrylic paint.

A Night In the Egyptian Desert

I think I like making up titles for my blogs besides doing my nails.

I did this one because of the gradient and it was fun to draw. I am going to enter these in a contest, too. Do you see the sun in between the palm trees.

I used SC's in Olympia, Unicorn, and Hazard for the sky portion. And then I used Revlon's Trade Winds for the sand, the rest is acrylic paint.

Popsicles

There is nothing like a hot summer day than enjoying some popsicles. I live in Arizona, so it gets hot here, no ice cream truck though, it would probably melt, lol. But I have memories of the delicious popsicles I had when I was younger. Do you remember the bubble gum popsicle?

I used Essie's French Affair for the bubble gum pink, Sinful Shine's Wisp for the white, and acrylic paint for the popsicles.

What is your favorite popsicle?

VeggieTalesNails

I love VeggieTales, my kids love VeggieTales, who doesn't love VeggieTales. They are funny and fun to draw.

I did a gradient with a blue and green for the background, sinful color's Tidal wave and Innocent and the rest with, you know it, acrylic paint.

Hope you enjoy!

Ocean Sunset

Hello Lovelies,

Did I tell you? I am so diggin' Instagram, especially for inspiring me to do nail art. The challenges gives me ideas and I know I will have something to post for this blog, as long as I keep up with it.

I decided for the Day 8 Ocean nails on #nailartjune that I will do a sunset on the ocean with sailboats. I got my inspiration from a picture on google images when I typed ocean sunset.

For the base or background color, I used Zoya's Penny, which is a copper metallic color, and a black striper for the horizon, the rest is with acrylic paint.

Reese's Peanut Buttercup Nails

There is something I have to admit. I have a big problem with Reese's Peanut Buttercups! I even hide them from the rest of my family, lol. It's not like they have a liking for them either, but I guess somewhere in my lil' ol' head, I think they will eat them all. Oh well. I know I can't eat them if I want to get back to my pre-baby weight. That makes me sad.

I used Zoya's Nina for the dark, dark brown on the thumb, Revlon's Electric for the yellow base color, and Sally Hansen's Insta-nail's Orange Impulse for the orange. I used acrylic paint for the other colors and details.

Wet Palette

No nails here, but some great information and DIY.

Some of you might not know this... but I had a blog called The Color Republic. I had to stop due to my pregnancy, the smells of nail polish made me sick to my stomach, and then for some odd reason my nails did not want to grow, despite the prenatal vitamins I was taking.

All this to say, I have been doing nail art, but not as long as some of these ladies I admire.

Okay back to the matter at hand... Those of you who use acrylic paint for you nail art, have you heard of a wet palette?

I use acrylic a lot, but I was getting upset that I had to squeeze out just a dot, and majority of the time, I felt like I was wasting it (yes honey, I am frugal). And not only that, but when I mixed some colors together to make a new one, it dried out faster than I could get a spray bottle to water it. How annoying.

So I got to researching, after I asked the hub if there was a contraption that could hold my paint without drying them out. He told me no and I was not satisfied. Immediately, all I could think of was a pill box, but I figured they are probably not air tight, and even air inside would dry out my "creations" or colors.

Then, I went online and found out we (nail artists) are not the only ones that use small amounts of acrylic at a time. There is another whole world/community of miniature figures that uses acrylic paints and had the same problem I did. But I think there acrylic may cost more than ours.

That is where I discovered this apparatus called the Wet Palette. The only thing was that I did not want to pay twenty bucks (Amazon) for something I know I can make at home.

So I did some more researching, and found out how I could make one.

All you need is:

A small tupperware container
Parchment paper (do not use wax paper, their not the same)
some paper towels, or sponge, or kleenex
and Water.


Yes, honey. I am so thrilled. Okay let me finish...

So wet your paper towel, and fold to the size of your container, place it at the bottom. (Make sure your paper towel is not pouring wet - you may have to experiment some afterward. I put too much in mine and the acrylic got watery after day one but still usable).

You can see I am picking up the parchment paper

Place your cut-to-size parchment paper on top of the paper towel and push it down to soak up the water. Make sure you swipe the beads of water that appear at the top. If your paper rolls up, you can flip it on the other side and smooth. Then wa-lah! You have yourself your very own wet palette!

Your paint will not dry up and you can store it for days, maybe even weeks.

Let me know if you tried it, and tell me how you like it. I am still excited. (Big Smile)

Below are some more pics..

Rainbow Flower

I am loving white polish this summer. It looks so fresh and so clean. But of course, I had to jazz it up some with some color. I love color and I am a color addict.

I used Zoya's Purity for the white and the rest I painted with acrylic paint.

Do you like rockin' white finger nail polish solo or do you like to add some color to it?

Baby Shower Nails

Here is another challenge I am doing on Instagram and of course great ideas to add to my blog.

This one is part of the #h4junenailartchallenge. I was a little confused to what category I should place myself. I have been doing nail art for almost a year but I don't consider myself a pro, but I am not a beginner either... Oh well.

I used Barielle's Blissful for the light pink base, and for the glitta, I used OPI's Pink Yet Lavender.

Strawberry French

My family has been on a strawberry dessert kick lately. So why not bring our little tasties onto my nails, it would only make sense.

I did a french with white polish, the Wet n Wild and then I used acrylic paint for the rest. Sorry for the pictures, still trying to work my camera, ugh. When will I ever get it right. What do you think? Would you rock a strawberry french?

Target Nails

I live in a small town and we usually have to drive a hour away to do some serious shopping, but I rather shop online or just head over to Target or Tar-jay. I usually find some polish on super sale, which is cool.

I used Loreal - Rendezvous for the red, Loreal - I Will! for the white, and acryllic paint for the rest. It was fun drawing the dog, the dog is used on gift cards.

I used the stamp from BM 206 and filled it in with the red.

Star Trek

Okay, I am sort of a geek. But for the most part, these nails were done for my husband. He luvs Star Trek, and we will be watching it, with a newborn and all.

I used the Nabi Black, Wet-n-Wild - I Red a Good Book for the red, NYC - Midtown Mimosa for the yellow (after placing a white base), and for the blue I used Sinful Colors - Endless Blue. The rest were acrylic paint. And on the thumb and pink I used OPI for Sephora - If You Got it, Haunt it for the glittery goodness.

Will you watch Star Trek - Into the Darkness this opening weekend?

Chalkboard Nails

I did this one for instagram (@nailodocious) for the Nail Art May Challenge (#nailartmay).

This one was for the doodling challenge.

I used a Nabi scented nail polish in Black (bought from the 99 cent store) and painted a matte topcoat, and used a white nail polish for the doodles, the other I placed the Hard Candy topcoat in Black Tie Optional.

Are you participating?

Bows and Bows

I am so ridiculous at times. I meant to put this mani into a contest, and I forgot to write the name of the contest while taking the picture (Instagram protocols). Duh, oh well.

I used for the red, Zoya - Carmen, the light baby blue is Nabi Scented Nails - Milky Sky, and the white is Kleancolor - White.

I added rhinestones to the top portion of the thumb and a blue holo glitter to the ring finger on top of the  light blue. I used only polishes to create the bows and stripes.

Floral Pattern

I wish I knew what these flowers are called. Perhaps you do?

I must be on a minty color kick lately since the last couple of manicures I did.

The base color is a shimmery minty green, Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle - Gentle Blossom and then I used various color polishes instead of acrylic for the flowers and leaves and stems.

I did this for a monthly challenge on Instagram, too. Check out my instagram for details.