LIW Manicures!

[Chewbacca]

Lets talk about polish.

 

[pandabee]

Let me go dig up some pictures from my pinterest

 

[pandabee]

First, my name is pandabee and I have a nail polish collecting problem...

 

[pandabee]

One of my favorite brands is Zoya...

http://www.adventuresinacetone.com/2012/08/squishy-teal-goodness.html


http://www.setinlacquer.com/2012/10/zoya-ornate-sparkle-and-shine-holiday.html


http://www.goosesglitter.com/2011/12/12-days-of-christmas-nails-day-4.html

 

[pandabee]

now some holiday nails:

if only I had the patient/talent for nail art...
http://blanketprint.tumblr.com/post/14638495670/colors-a-taupe-the-space-needle-opi-get-in-the


LoveLikeCrazy, this one's for you!! Tiffany blue with snowflakes!!!
http://nailsandnoms.com/2011/12/merry-day-after-christmas-holiday-skittle-mani/


and then some colors I think are just great for winter.
China Glaze Fast Track (great sparkly neutral...ps a friend had this on when she got engaged and it turned out great in pics!!) http://nailsandnoms.com/2012/03/china-glaze-hunger-games-collection-swatches-part-1/


I"m a big fan of the indie polish movement...this one is a great dark jewel toned glitter for the holiday season: Hare Aurora Borealis (over a black base) http://adventuresofamadscientist.com/2012/06/04/hare-polish-aurora-borealis/

 

[pandabee]

more holiday colors I heart:

Butter London Bluey and Knees Up
http://www.lipglossiping.com/2011/05/butter-london-autumn-winter-2011-collection/



Another indie favorite: Expecto Patronum by Dollish Pollish http://crystalscrazycombos.blogspot.com/2012/03/dollish-polish-expecto-patronum-and.html?m=1


----

and last, some cool French mani variations

blingy but totally doable for a wedding if you'd like! http://www.gemsinabottle.net/2011/12/notd-bejeweled-french-nails.html

 

[pandabee]

last batch, French variations continued

"funky French" with glitter tips http://chloesnails.blogspot.com/2010/12/funky-french-with-whimsical-touch.html


blue glitter gradient with nude base http://ohyeahprettynails.tumblr.com


another blue (cornflower) glitter gradient with nude base http://www.morenailpolish.com/2012/02/lynnderella-forget-you-not.html


and silver glitter over a gray base http://polishinfatuated.blogspot.com/2011/09/storm-clouds-rolling-in.html

 

[pandabee]

oops found one more that reminded me of winter. Pretty sparklies that remind me of pink snow

Also an indie polish, Girly Bits Promise Me http://girlybits.bigcartel.com/product/promise-me

 

[Chewbacca]

Ooo pandabee I want to come to your house! And I especially love the matte holiday mani!



As I said before, I only wear pedicures. These are my go to polishes. Big Apple Red, Curry Up Don't Be Late - my shiny gold signature colour, and Coney Island Cotton Candy. I couldn't find a picture of an ORLY bright fuchsia shade I have colour matched to my favourite lipstick.

I used to have a collection perhaps half of yours, panda! But I gave it all to my sister. I like to do nail art on her, but don't like to wear it myself.

 

[Chewbacca]

Another indie favorite: Expecto Patronum by Dollish Pollish http://crystalscrazycombos.blogspot.com/2012/03/dollish-polish-expecto-patronum-and.html?m=1

I LOVE whites with glitter. And INDIE POLISH!! Some favourites:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/candylacquer
http://www.etsy.com/shop/f4polish
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyandPolished
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lushlacquer

I would love to wear Candy Lacquer - White Wedding (http://candylacquer.bigcartel.com/product/white-wedding) at my white wedding! With plain nails underneath. ITS LIKE NAIL LACE.

 

[Chewbacca]

Superhero nail art on my sister.

 

[pandabee]

daaaang chewbacca that's some amazing nail art on your sister!!!! I only have some from lush lacquer that you linked...other favorites are nerdlacquer (she's back!!!), darling diva polish, pahlish, and dandy nails.

 

[madelise]

HAHA, why am I surprised that it wasn't PandaBee that started this thread?

Here's mine that I got done yesterday. I treat myself to professional pedicures and manicures after every finals. Other than that, it would only be for special occasions/vacations. I can't stand spending $! I can't do my own pedicures since I get cross eyed easily from staring at my own toes, and it's very uncomfortable for me to be curled in a position to get to them. I do my own nails occasionally. I'm a huge nail biter, and the only way I won't bite my nails is if they look pretty.



Here's the manicure I wore for a week, done DIY-style. This is about as long as my nails can get without acrylics.




I love glitter, I love glitter gradients, I love fast drying polish. So I usually use fast drying polish or gel nails on myself. Manicures cost about $8-10 in my area, with additional costs for french tips or designs… Gel polish manicures are about $15-20. It's not extremely pricey, but it adds up if I go regularly.. so I don't.


My favorite gel polishes are the Harmony Gelish brand, and my favorite top coat is the fast drying Seche Vite (although I'm very unhappy with how the top coat manages to yellow and "shrink" over time). My favorite regular polishes are those Revlon Top Speed polishes, and the like. Drug store brand polishes that are fast drying. I got TOO cheap, though, and tried the fast drying NYX brand… DO NOT BUY! It does not dry fast at all

 

[pandabee]

hehehe. oh well, I have had some pretty good contributions, I think!

I am so jealous of your natural nails mad...mine can't get very long without acrylics/gels because they still are very brittle and softish. and your bling!!! She looks so good with your nails. Very grown up and classy!

 

[madelise]

hehehe. oh well, I have had some pretty good contributions, I think!

I am so jealous of your natural nails mad...mine can't get very long without acrylics/gels because they still are very brittle and softish. and your bling!!! She looks so good with your nails. Very grown up and classy!

Mine? I have horrible nails. Mine don't grow at all, and they're very very dry, thin and brittle. Having them as long as they are in the purple polish is a rarity. If I grow my nails out just enough, it snaps and breaks at the corner of my finger

I wish I had long nail beds. I'm so jealous of everyone I know with long/big nail beds. Even if they cut their nails down to the bone, their nails still look long and pretty.

 

[madelise]

Superhero nail art on my sister.

This is so cool! Did she do them herself, or did she get it done professionally? SO would die and go to heaven if I had nails like that.

 

[lkc84]

Love this thread!!! I'm a hopeless nail polish addict. Pandabee--LOVE your collection! Yours puts mine to shame!

I'm a big fan of China Glaze. I have about half of the Hunger Games collection, Fast Track (the one your friend wore, Panda) is one of my all time faves! I also like a lot of Essie's and OPI's colors. OPI's Russian Navy is one of my go-tos.

Madalise--Your nails look so pretty! Mine don't even get that far before both thumbnails invariably split

Here are a few I found:






Would be really pretty for wedding nails


I loved this one so much I went to Ulta the next day and bought polish!

 

[MayFlowers]

I love nail polish, but hardly ever take the time to paint my nails. I have pretty strong and long nails that usually look great au natural. If I have time, I love to give myself a french manicure, but hate that it chips so quickly. Does anyone have any tips to make my nail polish last longer? I gave myself a french manicure the day before Thanksgiving and it was chipped by noon on Thanksgiving.

 

[sweetpea&babycorn]

I love nail polish, but hardly ever take the time to paint my nails. I have pretty strong and long nails that usually look great au natural. If I have time, I love to give myself a french manicure, but hate that it chips so quickly. Does anyone have any tips to make my nail polish last longer? I gave myself a french manicure the day before Thanksgiving and it was chipped by noon on Thanksgiving.

I heard that polishing both the white and topcoat across and over the tips of your nails will help make it last longer. And every 2 days a new topcoat should be put on. I do not have the dexterity to give myself french manicures, so I usually get a gel manicure if I want a french look. They last at least 2 weeks for me and I never ever have to worry about chipping. For me it's totally worth the extra $ for the gel manicure, but also why I don't get french manicures very often.

I love seeing all these different designs! The day before my test I plan on getting a holiday-themed gel manicure and a regular pedicure. I'm so glad I have some inspiration photos now!

 

[lkc84]

more holiday colors I heart:



Another indie favorite: Expecto Patronum by Dollish Pollish http://crystalscrazycombos.blogspot.com/2012/03/dollish-polish-expecto-patronum-and.html?m=1


I just caught the name of this! Love the polish and LOVE Harry Potter. Might have to pick this up

 

[LoveLikeCrazy]

I'm so jelly of this thread! Panda bee those nails are right up my alley!

Now that I can't get my nails done on the regular due to school, I have been biting them off....like so much stress I'm almost eating my finger and my finger tips hurt so bad from my nails being so short

Anyone got any tips to help strengthen and help them grow faster? Obviously not biting them off would be a good tip...but easier said than done. I'm on break for about a month in a few weeks, so I'd like to get them back on the healthy track again. I was gonna try to go see my nail girl for the holidays but they are so short, I don't even think tips would last without popping off ughhhh! I need to get this under control...

Help pweese

 

[lkc84]

For holiday theme, I just came across this and thought it was pretty cute:

 

[boysenberry]

Wow Pandabee, and I thought I had a nail polish problem! I love your shelves too, I keep mine in shoeboxes

I usually do my own nails every week, and I'm partial to OPI + seche vite. For me, I don't notice any shrinkage with seche though I can only get through half the bottle before it gets all gooey and unusable. I recently bought a bottle of Seche Restore to thin out polish, so hopefully that will extend my seche's life. Last time I got my nails done professionally the manicurist thought I had gel polish on because my nails were so shiny!

I just bought OPI Goldfinger from their skyfall collection. Maybe I will play around with gold + red for the holidays!

 

[madelise]

Boysenberry - I just added gold to my red! I attempted to do a glitter gradient, like I did with my purple.. but the gold I have is hard to maneuver and the glitter is all one size.



Does anyone have any recs for a gold glitter polish that has multiple sized glitter pieces?

LLC - yes, school does that to ya Can you get gel polish mani's? When my nails are pretty, I don't bite. Acrylics make me want to bite anytime it grows out and I don't have time to get a fill.

Mayflowers - you can use a gel polish top coat on top of your regular polish. You just need to make sure your regular polish is completely dried throughout, so wait a few hours. Gel polish always makes my polish last pretty long.

 

[madelise]

Ok that photo bothered me. I tried again. Thank god it's so easy to remove regular polish when it's on top of gel.



I'm attempting a look like this:

 

[sweetpea&babycorn]

I'm hoping my current gel polish will last for another couple weeks - its been more than 2.5 weeks! I am loving the trend with the glitter tips and had planned on getting a paler pink/red with dark red glitter tips, but the candy came look is super cute!! Ahh decisions, decisions!

 

[Chewbacca]

madelise I did the superhero nails! Check some of those indie nail polish companies out for the glitter you described perhaps?

SPEAKING OF, I was at the chemist earlier and saw the OPI James Bond - Man With A Golden Gun 18K gold foil specks topcoat. Tacky or awesome? I cannot decide!

Mayflowers another alternative is using the nail polish strips? They come in french manicure. They start growing out before they chip, its great.

 

[pandabee]

Madelise that second attempt looks good! Did you try just dabbing the glitter on the tips? That works better in general with chunky glitter. My fave gold glitter that is multiple sizes is Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow but it's on the more expensive side.


I prefer Poshe for my shiny/sealing top coat...it doesn't seem to shrink on me as much as with Seche Vite. I do need to find something to thin it out though, I may have to try Seche Restore.

 

[LoveLikeCrazy]

LLC - yes, school does that to ya Can you get gel polish mani's? When my nails are pretty, I don't bite. Acrylics make me want to bite anytime it grows out and I don't have time to get a fill.

madelise, i cannot have ANY polish on at all....and yes they check our nails...my program is really strict I was thinking of trying to use opi nail envy while on break to help them grow. wah. good thing im not getting proposed to anytime soon! Next summer i can get my nails all pretty before the fall semester (i dont have school during the summer).

 

[petit_bijou]

Love all the pics ladies!! I have a huge nail polish addiction. I think I need a shelf like yours pandabee! Right now I have the colors I wear for the season in a giant glass jar on my vanity (the biggest kitchen pantry jar from Ikea), and the off season colors are in a shoebox in my bathroom.

After growing up playing piano and riding horses, there was never any point painting my nails since I'd have to take it off for lessons, or it would just get wrecked at the barn. Now it's a major distressor for me to take some "me" time and do a new mani. I recently bought a set of stamping plates from amazon and have been having a ton of fun doing accent nails with them. Right now I have a red mani with a gold glitter snowflake on my ring finger nail. It's also a relatively subtle way to remind SO that other sparkles belong on that finger!