Ye Old Renaissance Manicure

Hello lovies! So today I have a bit of fun for you in the form of Renaissance Faire nail art! Woot! *Note: On Wednesdays, We Wear Polish does not test on animals. Hence, no dragons were harmed in the making of this nail art :) 

So for me, the New York Renaissance Faire is somewhat of a family tradition. My family and I attend every single year and basically spend the day walking around in costume, speaking in old English, purchasing handmade goods, and eating turkey legs.

But this year was particularly special for me because it was the first time I put together a real costume, busty corset, big skirts, and all! Squee! Also, it is amazingly difficult to not flash people while wearing a corset. I spent a good part of the day trying to figure out how I could breathe in without falling out of my corset. It took a lot of shallow breaths and old Merlin sorcery. Yes, Merlin was there too.

I will spare you tons of embarrassing photos, but I will tell you that I went as a very busty pirate wench. Because why be you, when you can be a pirate?

And to fit the day's theme, I did some Renaissance Faire nail art.

I was able to create this entire manicure using stamping plates from Vivid Lacquer. If you haven't tried her plates before, and you're a big stamper like I am, you really should. She has tons of unique designs and her plates are deeply etched which makes for easy transfer onto a stamper. I bought this plate specifically for it's Renaissance theme! I really love the "castle" cobble stone effect I was able to create on my pinkie and ring finger. And how awesome is the dragon on my middle finger?!

When I first told my coworker's that I was going to attend the Faire, there were quite a few snickers and laughs. Yes really, that's how I planned on spending my weekend. But honestly, with all of the costume's, mead, fried food (mac and cheese on a stick!) and amazing handcrafted goodies, I really don't see the dorkiness. I mean, really, who gives up the opportunity to dress in costume and talk in old English?

Ok, so just one cute photo...

(Why am I not wearing my Renaissance Faire nails, you ask? Because I managed to mess them up the morning of the faire! Just my luck.)

"Stop waiting for Prince Charming. Get up and find him.The poor idiot may be stuck in a tree or something." - unknown

California Velvets - Deep Black
California Velets - Winter White
China Glaze - Salsa (red)
Mundo de Unas - 32
Mundo de Unas - 33
Konad Black
Studs - Born Pretty Store
Matte Top Coat - Born Pretty Store
Vivid Lacquer - knight, dragon

ILNP Black Orchid

So all in all, it's been a fun summer. We've been to pool parties, barbecues, and summer concerts. We've seen beach manicures, flower dotticures, and the occasional sailor themed pedicure.

But recently, there has been a soft chill in the morning air and some of us are starting to crave pumpkin flavored things. Its beginning to look like summer is over. Well, at least in New York. Although considering it's supposed to be 80 degrees this Sunday (the same day I go apple picking), maybe we have a few summery days left.
But you get my point.

In a few weeks, all the loud and bright colors we grew to love over the summer will migrate to the back of our Helmer's. Instead, we will reach for deep blues, dark reds, and creamy browns. And most likely, colors like the one you see below. This little beauty is part of the I Love Nail Polish Fall Collection for 2014. Definitely check that out because every single color is absolutely gorgeous. Duochromes, holo's, glitter's...you name it, it's in there. The two polishes I purchased from this collection were Fall Semester (a stunning dark teal holographic polish) and Black Orchid which is featured below (a deep purple/burgundy holographic polish). In my opinion, this is the epitome of a fall color. It's dark, rich, and a beautiful shade of purple. As you can see, indoors, it is absolutely lovely.

But outside, in full sun, it's even better. Aside from being a lovely fall color inside, Black Orchid is also a linear holographic polish outside.

As is typical with ILNP polishes, the formula was perfect. I achieved the richness of color you see with just two coats of polish and one coat of Seche Vite as my topper. Though this polish is lovely enough to be worn on it's own, I added a flower water decal on my ring finger, purchased from my favorite place, the Born Pretty Store. *Be sure to use my code CJCX31 for 10% off your entire Born Pretty Order! 

What are your "must have" nail color's for fall?

Like what you see? Check out my other designs on pinterest!

I Love Nail Polish - Black Orchid
Purple Flower Water Decal - Born Pretty Store

Black Marble Mani

So the only thing I really love more than nail polish, is discovering new nail polish blogs. I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post, but I recently discovered a new blog called Lacquer Style. Do yourself a favor and check out this blog because she is absolutely amazing. All of her nail art is hand painted. Her floral work is crazy detailed, and in all honesty, the best I have seen.

So today's mani was inspired by this mani done by Lacquer Style.  To achieve the marble look, I first painted my nails black and once that dried, used the saran wrap method to create a gold marbling affect. Click here to learn about the saran wrap method. To make sure that I did not overload my black base with gold polish, I removed some of the gold polish on the saran wrap my blotting the saran wrap ball on a piece of paper. This removed excess polish and left just enough gold to create the soft marble affect on my nails.

But another inspiration for this mani was a polish I purchased called Guilt-y Pleasure from Wing Dust Collections. Get ready to start drooling. Unlike typical gold flakie polishes, this polish contains both 23 karat gold leaf and silver leaf along with purple iridescent flakes and a touch of soft blue shimmer. I purchased this polish several months ago and have been dying to use it, but couldn't figure out how. Then finally, I found the mani for it.

 

Because my other nails had so much going on, I thought painting over each with this polish would be overkill. Instead, I decided to only use it to accent my thumb nail. I love how this polish simultaneously stands out and blends in with the rest of my nails. There is something about the mix of silver and gold flakes that really pops for me. Quick warning though, the formula was a little thick so getting the flakies on do require a bit of maneuvering (however, this is an issue with most big glitter polishes, not just this brand in particular.) It's a bit pricey at $14, but if you like a little bling, I would definitely recommend this polish!

Like what you see? Check out my other designs on pinterest!

California Velvets - Deep Black
Maybelline - Bold Gold
Wing Dust Collection - Guilt-y Pleasure

Studs - Born Pretty Store

Hard Candy Pop-arazi

So I just checked the date and we are already in September! Yikes! It's been a while since my last post so I do have to apologize for my absence. I am in the middle of the "just-graduated-from-grad-school-and-now-hunting-for-a-job" thing so everything is up in the air. Hopefully, when I begin my career and things settle down, I will be able to create a more concrete blogging schedule. But I just wanted to let you know that I am here and still blogging!

So this is kind of a fun mani I did a few months ago. While perusing the shelves at Walmart, I came upon this very cool glitter topper, Pop-arazi by Hard Candy.

* Drools * I know, right? This polish is filled with small circular red, black, light blue, navy blue, light green, and light pink matte glitters. Essentially, a party in a bottle.

Now one thing I have discovered about myself is that I absolutely love glitter toppers. Actually, now that I think about it, my helmer has more glitter polishes in it than any other kind of polish (matte's, cream's, etc.). But alas, another thing I have discovered is I am horrible at picking out base coats that complement my glitters. Yes, now you see my dilemma. So  after my last glitter topper combo disaster (what I like to call my "nail fail"), I knew I had to pick  the right undies for this polish...

..and I think I did pretty well this time. I decided to fight glitter with glitter and paired Hard Candy Pop-arazi with Milani Silver Dazzle. Two coats of Silver dazzle gave me complete coverage and TONS of shine. On top, I used Pop-arazi to do a glitter gradient and then finished this mani off with one coat of Seche Vite.

What do you guys think of this combo?
Do you have a formula for pairing glitter's with base coats?

Like what you see? Check out my other designs on pinterest!

Hard Candy - Pop-arazi
Milani - Silver Dazzle