Let's Get Nailed

TuTu Cute Jelly Sandwich

The weather is not making me happy.  I really wanted to show you pictures of my nails from a few different days, but there just isn't any sun in Ohio.  So unfortunately the mani that I'm going to show you was only photographed inside.  So please don't judge the photos too harshly, I know that they aren't the best.

So I started with 2 coats of Ulta TuTu Cute.  This color alone is a lovely creme lavender color.  The formula was nice and the application was a breeze.  I wanted to spicy it up a little, so I added 2 layers of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Set the Stage.  I truly love this gold glitter.  The mixture of small glitter and the larger hexagon glitter is just perfect for a jelly sandwich.  Next I added on 1 coat of China Glaze Innocence.  Overall, I was pretty happy with the way that this turned out. I felt like it was a really nice color combination, and that the colors were work appropriate.  But not too boring :)
Even though these picture were taken inside, they are pretty color accurate.

What are your favorite colors to wear to work?

~Nailed by Brittany~
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I Am Unicorn

Sometimes the beauty of a certain polish is almost impossible to capture on camera. That is the case with today's manicure (which honestly isn't really today's manicure but actually photos from a few weeks ago). Anyway a while back I had purchased a few polishes from OPI's Designer Series. They are all beautiful, dynamic and sparkly, which I love. DS Magic is my personal favorite out of the ones that I own. DS Magic is a blue duochrome with flecks of purple. In real life it looks either blue or purple depending on how I hold my hand. On camera though it just looks plain old sparkly blue, which is pretty but not near as pretty as it is in person.

2 Coast O.P.I. DS Magic with SV on top
I actually tend to prefer DS Magic without a top coat. I feel like the top coat sort of tones down the sparkle a bit. Anyway my brother Joe aka my personal photographer and I tried really hard to get goods pictures of these nails. But it just wasn't looking how I wanted it to. But I seriously recommend this polish for everyone, its beautiful in person.

You can sort of see a hint of purple here if you look closely
Also the title of this post is from this weeks episode of Glee which I am watching right now :) I love Glee and I felt like the title was appropriate since much like this polish unicorns are also impossible to capture on camera... yep I'm a nerd like that.
~Nailed by Jen~

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Fall French

With the cold weather rolling in, it finally feels right to break out the darker colors. I decided to try out some of the colors I picked up at Ulta last weekend. I started out with a base coat of Ulta - Femme Fatale. I used 2 coats, although I probably could have stopped at just one. I really loved the color and the finish. It had such a subtle hint of purples and reds.

In order to spice it up a little bit, I added a French tip with Ulta - Chic Peek. I resorted to tape to help keep my lines neat and clean. I liked the way this color classed up the look, but wasn't too much to distract from the Femme Fatale.

I was actually lucky enough to catch a bit of a sunny day to photograph these in. The sun is quickly fleeting in Ohio so when the sun is out, take advantage of it!

Shade
Hello, Sunshine!!!

Hooray for the rays!

Heads up to our readers: We only need 2 more followers until we host our very first giveaway! If you're reading, but not following, join and let us know you are out there!

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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'Abduction' of My Heart

So today I'm super excited to show you one of my favorite memories.  Last August, Ericka, Jen, myself, and Patty (another friend) decided to do a little stalking because Taylor Lautner was filming 'Abduction' in PA.  I must confess that I'm a big fan of Twilight, so therefore I have an affection for Taylor. He is just so cute, in a little boy way. But for as much as I find Taylor to be adorable, I'm definitely Team Edward.

The adventure started on a beautiful friday afternoon.  Our intentions were to just drive by the filming location to just see if we would be able to even see anything.  Little did we know that we would be given the chance to meet Taylor and get his autograph.  Lets just say that we stood, laid, etc. on the side of a little road in Sutersville, PA from 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM before we finally met Taylor.
:)


So how does this relate to nail polish?  Well it doesn't really, but since the movie premiered this weekend I thought that this would be good time to share (brag) about having gotten the chance to meet Taylor.  On that day, I was wearing a beautiful dark purple nail polish.  I think it was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Pronto Purple.  Since we decided to go see the movie on Friday, I figured I would wear the same color nail polish to just bring the whole experience full circle.  However, this was a fail on many levels.  1) I don't own this polish, I had borrowed it from Jen and unfortunately I don't live with her any more and I couldn't just borrow it again. And 2) we didn't even get to see the movie.  The original plan was to have all 4 of us go to see it, but Patty and Ericka had prior commitments.  Jen and I decided to just go see it anyways (we probably like Taylor the most out of the bunch :) but we got so distracted by the amazing selection of nail polish at Mejier (will post about that later) that we arrived at the theater 5 minutes after they locked the doors.  Trust me, it was extremely disappointing!

So here are what my nails looked like on Friday, the day that I didn't get to see Taylor's new movie.  I did two coats for Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue and on my ring fingers I did one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Blue Sea.  I really love the Thinking of Blue polish. The Complete Salon Manicure polishes have a wonderful formula.  I didn't need to do 2 coats, but I just like 2 coats.  I also feel like I ruined the mani by adding the accent nail, but I guess it was just a foreshadowing of how the future was going to go.
Taken outside in the shade.

This one was taken in the sun.
Well I hope that you enjoyed my crazy long post. If you didn't read it all, I do hope you enjoyed the photos of Taylor :)  Did anyone see the movie this weekend?

~Nailed by Brittany~
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Polka Dots!

First let me start by saying Happy First Day of Fall! The weather here in Ohio is raining and chilly, which most people don't enjoy but I am very pleased about, perfect for sweaters and boots. I'm sure by February I'll be sick of the cold but for now its nice, I love when the seasons change. 
The manicure I have today isn't particularly Fall themed but I got a dotting tool yesterday and i couldn't wait to use it.
 Initially when I started painting I was planning to do a rainbow of dots on a white background, but then I saw the black, red and silver sitting together and I decided to go with that instead. I was very happy with the results. 
I started with 2 coat China Glaze 'White on White' and then put a layer of SV on top. I find that when I'm trying to do any nail art its best to put a top coat between the base and the other stuff that way if I mess up I can remove the nail art without taking off the base color. Its saves a lot of time because I tend to mess up a lot. The dots are China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps', Finger Paints 'Easel Come, Easel Go', and ORLY 'Liquid Vinyl'.
Well that's all for me for today. I'm off to have a romantic date night with Brittany. Hope everyone enjoys the change of season this weekend, I unfortunately will be working.
~Nailed by Jen~






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Mint Condition

This weekend, I splurged a bit at Ulta. To celebrate the new look of their products, Ulta was having a great sale! The Salon Fomula Lacquers were on sale for $2 instead of $6, plus there was a coupon for $3.50 off a $10 or more purchase. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. I stocked up with 10 polishes and can't wait to share them with you.

The first polish I reached for when I got home was a Ulta - Mint Condition. This color is a light teal (definitely more on the blue side than green). The first coat was a bit streaky and didn't cover that great, but with a second layer, the color evened out. I really liked this color. I didn't even add anything to it, which is really unusual these days.

These photos are after 2 days wear. I was really impressed with the lack of tip wear. Luckily, I was able to catch a semi-sunny day to photograph these.

Taken in the shade

Outside in the sunlight

Did you make it to Ulta's sale? If not, the sale is good until Sept. 24th :)

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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Double Take Blue

Since both Ericka and Jen are busy with work currently, you will just have to endure another post from me :)  So I didn't think that I would be posting 2 days in a row, so I didn't prepare better.  I have another blue polish for you today.  This past weekend I went home and Ericka went nail polish crazy.  I received a text from her on Sunday saying that she had purchased 10 new Ulta polishes.  Lets just say that I was beyond excited!

So I decided to test out Into Astrono-Me?  Its a lovely dusk blue (yes again) but this time it has a teal shimmer in it.  I had a little trouble with the first coat of this polish.  I couldn't get it to go on smoothly and I was having trouble with balding spots.  But the second coat fixed all of the problems.
These were taken inside on Monday night, cause it was yucky outside :(
Funny Story: So the carrot in this photo was due to the fact that I forgot that I had the polish bottle for this color.  I was thinking that it was Jen's polish and that I didn't have the bottle. So after a few photos, Ericka found me and asked what I was doing.  It was definitely a facepalm moment.
Due to my laziness, I decided to keep this polish on for another day.  But to change it up a little, I decided to stamp.  I used another one of Ericka's new polishes called Scene Steel-er.  This polish is a beautiful dark silver foil.  I truly love this polish for stamping and I'm sure you will see it again.  Its an excellent one coater.
Out in the sunshine. YAY!

This was my first time using this stamp and I really like it!
Bonus Pic:  Here is a pic of the 2 blues.  Finger Paints Art Thou Blue (pinky and middle fingers) and Ulta Into Astrono-Me? (ring and pointer fingers).  As you can see in the picture, the shimmers make these polish look really different.  But they are both equally beautiful!
Do you have a favorite stamping polish/great one coater?  Let us know!

~Nailed by Brittany~
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Art Thou Blue?

The weather in Ohio has been some beautiful shades of blue and greys.  I'm not sure how much I'm liking the fact that its dark still when I get out of bed, but I think the main reason for that is because I know that means that tax season is just right around the corner. So to match the lovely weather, I decided to wear a lovely blue polish.  I decided to test out Finger Paints Art Thou Blue?


This polish is a lovely dusty blue with a  bit of a hidden sliver shimmer.  I was lucky enough to get some sunshine to photography this beauty. 
I'm just loving this color :)

To add a little something to this I added one coat of Pure Ice Oh Baby!  I completely love this color and I think its extra pretty over blues :)  Sadly, its really challenging to photography this polish's true beauty.  Sometimes in the right light you can see that there is a purplish tint to it. 
In the sunlight the sparkle doesn't show as much. But...
In the shade its lovely.
I wish I had taken a picture of this polish inside, because I think that it might have shown the colors better, but I forgot. Oops!  Anyways, do you have any particular polishes that you love to layer with? Let us know :)


~Nailed by Brittany~
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Heartbreaker...You Got the Best of Me

Although I love painting my nails, it usually takes a super long time. I'm really indecisive or get great ideas in my head that do not translate well into real life. I also struggle coming up with titles for my posts. Some days, I spend more time naming it than I do typing the words! (this is sad, I know). However, today, thanks to Mariah Carey and her catchy 1999 hit "Heartbreaker", I had a little help naming this one :)

For my weekend mani, I decided to use one of the lovely colors from the Color Club Poptastic collection. I layered on 2 coats of Twiggie. (I used Twiggie before in my Green with Envy post.) I wanted to add something else to this so I put a layer of Hard Candy - Break Up. The end result was a bit too flashy for me so I finished off the mani with a matte top coat (also from Hard Candy).
Outside in the shade

Sunlight

Sunlight

I hope you enjoyed the link to Mariah's music video. I only hope it gets stuck in your head as well today so I'm not the only one out there singing out a hit from 1999 :)

Have a great weekend!
~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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Grape Swirl Lollipop

Today, I wanted to share with you my most recent attempt to water marble.  Water marbling was actually want got me so interested in nail blogs.  I had found a photo of it and was so intrigued that I had to find more.  And  that's what lead me to all of your lovely blogs.  My first attempt was probably my most successful attempt.  But since then the weather (aka lack of air conditioning in my apartment) has not been feeling the watermarbling vibe, I haven't been able to attempt it again.  But since the cooler weather has dropped on us, I thought I would give it another go.

I probably spent the longest amount of time that I have ever on this manicure.  I started out thinking that I would use greens, but in the end I settled on purples.  I chose OPI Grape...Set...Match, Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud, and Orly Lollipop.  I believe I did 3 or 4 drops of each color.  Overall, I was pretty happy with the look.  The glitter in the OPI polish would sometimes break and spread all over, but it was still pretty :)
Left hand

Right hand

I really like the thumb :) I like the big swirls for some reason.
Well yesterday was the extended business taxes due date, so this past week has been stressful to say the least, but I plan on relaxing this weekend :)  Hope you all enjoy your weekend too!

~Nailed by Brittany~
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2010 Lilac

Over the weekend, I was browsing some nail blogs and was inspired to bring out the Nubar. When I've used Nubar in the past, I've always layered it over darker colors. I saw a mani that had put it over a lighter base color, and the flakes popped!

I decided to use Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Lacey Lilac as the base. Usually, I love Sally Hansen polishes. However, when I was applying it this time, the polish came out thick and uneven. I even resorted to adding some nail polish thinner and trying again. I liked the shade of the polish so I decided to stick with it even though I was disappointed with the application.

Once the base dried, I layer on Nubar 2010 and was pleased with the results. I love the rainbow colors that the flakes bring out :)

Taken outside in the shade.

In the evening sun


Do you have any tricks for when the polish gets thick? I'd love to hear about them!

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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Handmade Zebra's! Tasty!

A few weeks ago I picked up a bunch of Finger Paints polishes among them was Prints and Printsess. I'm not a big fan of orange, its usually not very flattering with my fair skin, but this particular color turned out quite pretty. Its a nice light orange cream with some orange shimmer.


After I had the orange on I got the idea that it would look cool if I painted some tiger stripes. So I got a black nail art brush and set out to work. Apparently though I know nothing of animal prints because what I painted ended up looking more like zebra stripes than tiger stripes.


Its also been pointed out to me that the black stripes also look a little like tadpoles, or sperm under a microscope. Not my intention at all :)


Even with the resemblance to bodily fluids I was still pleased with how this manicure turned out, especially at distance and for once it photographed really well in artificial light.
~Nailed by Jen~
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Gold Sprinkled Chocolate

So has anyone noticed that fall suddenly appeared?  This past week we experienced some true Ohio weather with gray rainy skies.  To get in the mood for this new season I decided to go with a dark colored manicure.  Having purchased Savvy Chocolate a couple of months ago I figured this was the perfect time to test it out.

I started with a basecoat of Orly Ridgefiller.  I have started using this basecoat to see if it would help with the staining on my nails.  I'm hoping that the more pigmented basecoat will make it so that the nail polish won't stain my nails as much. It does seem to be helping, so fingers crossed.  Next, I did to 2 coats of Savvy Chocolate and topped it off with a layer of Diamond Dry.  This color is gorgeous, but the only complaint that I have is that the color can be very dark looking without direct light.  But I was able to capture the yummy chocolate shimmer that this polish offers.
These pictures were taken outside on a fairly dreary day, but I was able to get some of the pretty shimmer.
 
To make this mani last another day, I added a layer of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Set the Stage.  I'm actually really loving this multi-sized hexagon gold glitter polish.  The glitter comes out nice and evenly, which isn't always the case with glitters like this.  I recently picked this polish up at Target on sale and I couldn't be happier :)
So what do you think?  A great fall manicure with the cooler weather? 

Also, I wanted to give a little shout out to Fingers.  As soon as I was done with this mani I thought of you.  I hope you like it :)

~Nailed by Brittany~

P.S. Just wanted to remind everyone that once we hit 25 followers, we will be hosting a giveaway :)  Only 3 more.....come on you know you want to click that follow button!
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Lion Pride

After browsing some nail blogs, I decided I would attempt the paw print design for my school's upcoming football game. I found this idea on Nail Polish Art Addiction. Since the school I teach at is home of the Lions, I thought this was a great idea. This was the first time I had attempted to use the dotting tool and actually left the design on. I usually struggle getting the dots to come out looking good.

I started off by painting all of my nails with Orly - Frostbite, except for my ring fingers. I decided to paint these two fingers with ColorClub - Almost Famous (from the Poptastic Collection). As you probably could have guessed, the school colors are blue and yellow. After the base color on the nails dried, I added a top coat (currently using Orly - Sec' N Dry). I used the Frostbite and Almost Famous to dot on the paws, alternating the color used for the base and paw print.

I think I did a better job on my right hand, which is really shocking since I'm right handed. I think by the time I had worked my way over there, I had a little better idea of what the paws should look like and how to curve the "toes" around the pad of the paw.

These pictures are not the best quality for two reasons: 1. I wore these all day at school, helped out at a tailgate party, worked a football game, and then photographed them the next day. 2. Ohio weather was showing it's true colors when I took photos and I had to sneak in photos during a brief intermission from downpours.


So what do you think? Have you ever tried mascot inspired manis?

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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Triangles

Since returning from West Virginia on Monday evening I've worked approximately 40 hours in slightly less than 3 days. I slept for 11 hours strait today and I'm still exhausted so I'm keeping it short today. I did these nails a few weeks ago and have been saving the photos to share.


The triangle design is something I've seen a few places and it looked easy enough, even for someone with limited skills such as myself. After a few weeks of putting it off (tape mani's are super time consuming for me for some reason) I decided to give it a shot, and it was easier than I expected.


I started with a base coat of ORLY 'Its Up To Blue' and put a coat of Finger Paints 'Art You Wondering' on top. I actually wore that for a day or two and when the tips started to wear went for the triangles. I placed 2 pieces of tape to form the triangle then painted the whole remaining area with Rimmel 60 Seconds Vinyl Mirror 'Metallic' and then a layer of Seche Vite. When that dried I moved the two pieces of tape up and painted another triangle in ORLY 'Vinyl'. Then I topped it all off with another coat of SV.


I was pretty pleased with how these nails turned out and how simple the manicure it was. I loved the color combination and i'm looking forward to trying this with other colors.
~Nailed by Jen~
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Fairy Teal

After coming back from a vacation in wild n' wonderful West Virginia, I realized I had tons of school work to do and little time for my nails. Instead of taking hours to decide on what to do and what colors to use, I decided to stick with solid colors for now. I wanted to test out some colors that I've been eying up, but have not had the chance to enjoy yet.

I decided to try Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Fairy Teal. Jen's cousin had used this color in W.V. and I loved it! As the weather outside is getting cooler, I felt that this was a perfect color to ease into the brisk temperatures. As is my experience with most Sally Hansen CSM, the color went on perfectly in one coat. It was opaque, covered great, and didn't bubble. Compared to my usual nails, I really liked having this toned-down solid.
Taken outside in the sunlight.


Another outside shot under clouds. 

Have you made the switch from summer shades to fall tones yet? If so, what are your favorites so far? I'd love to hear about them/see them!
P.S. Don't forget to follow us! Once we reach 25 followers, we are going to do a giveaway :)

~ Nailed by Ericka ~
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West Virginia - Wild 'n Wonderful

So as you all know, this past weekend we went camping in West Virginia.  The weather was a little crazy, which made camping a little more challenging than usual but everyone survived.  With the super heat on Saturday, we thought it would be the perfect time to paint our nails.  We had a little trouble with the polishes getting thick and sticky, but nothing too bad. 

We are going to show you all the nails that we did, so there are a few new fingers!
Here is Jen's nails.  She used OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts and Color Club Poptastic: Almost Famous.  It was in honor of her dad who's job is to paint the lines on roads :)

I used Jen's OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise. So pretty!
Ericka's Nail are done with Sally Hansen Deep Blue Sea topped with Sally Hansen Midnight Sky.  A beautiful combination.
Here are Jen's cousins nails:
Here are Kait's nails.  I used Color Club Chelsea Girl and dotted with OPI Whats With The Cattitude.
For Amanda's nails Jen painted Sally Hansen Fairy Teal topped with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend :)  Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend too!

~Nailed by Brittany~
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