» blanket print nails

Color: Drawn To You (China Glaze)
Retail Price: $6.50 (USD)

This shade is from China Glaze’s spring 2012 Magnetix collection. It is a shimmery, bright, magnetic purple, and the perfect nail polish if you’re looking to create some fast and easy nail art!

You could simply wear this nail polish on its own, but that’s obviously not what it’s really meant for. When you buy your own bottle of Drawn To You, make sure you also buy the magnets that China Glaze sells (I bought mine for $5.99 (USD) at Sally Beauty Supply). Each magnet comes with three designs, which enable you to create diagonal lines like in my manicure, above, pointed chevron shapes, and starburst shapes.

The thing to remember with magnetic nail polish is the magic happens while the polish is still wet. So, start by painting one nail with your magnetic polish. Then, hold your magnet above the nail while the polish is still wet. Wait 5-10 seconds, and when you remove the magnet—presto!—you’re left with a chic, easily replicated nail art design. Do the same to finish up the rest of your nails.

Like I said, you can wear these nail polishes without taking advantage of their magnetic tendencies. I think if you even want to consider doing this, the best thing to do would be to only “magnetize” one or two of your nails to serve as accent nails, just like in many other traditional nail art manicures.

The formula for this nail polish is really great! I’m only wearing one coat of Drawn To You on my nails, and as you can see, I absolutely got total coverage. I was so impressed! Application is really easy, too. I thought it would apply streaky, but it actually goes on so smooth. It’s almost impossible to mess up a manicure using this nail polish!

Magnetic polish isn’t new, but it’s beginning to catch on. Prior to the Magnetix collection, all the magnetic polish I’d come across was fairly pricey. So, even though it’s a little annoying to have to purchase the magnet for the Magnetix collection separately (thankfully, you only need to purchase one magnet to use with all the nail polish in this collection), even after you add together the cost of the magnet and one bottle of nail polish, the total is considerably less than other magnetic polish out there. Paired with the really saturated, bright finish? You honestly can’t afford to miss out on the Magnetix collection!

Colors: Super Star! (Pure Ice), Black Lingerie (Revlon), Connect the Dots (Lynnderella)

My nails are all dressed up for the Oscars tonight…even though the rest of me will be in my pajamas as I watch the big show!

The tuxedo nail is inspired by Zooey Deschanel’s Golden Globes 2012 tuxedo manicure, and it’s so easy to recreate. Simply paint your nail white, and once it’s dry, use a thin paintbrush or striper to create a black “x” near your cuticle. This is the bow tie! Use the paintbrush/striper or switch over to a dotting tool or toothpick to fill in the bow tie (I also added a final dot in the middle of the bow tie to represent the knot in the bow tie). Finish the look by adding on three buttons with your dotting tool/toothpick, and using a black nail polish or black striper to swipe a black French tip across your nail. Once it’s all dry, seal in your design with your favorite top coat!

The rest of my nails feature a white base color with Connect the Dots (Lynderella) layered over the white.

Hope your faves win tonight! :)

Colors: Mandy (Julep), Glenn (Julep), Carrie (Julep), Blake (Julep), Brigitte (Julep)

Check out my Valentine’s Day mani! I love the combined effect of these colors on my nails. Looks like candy! Unfortunately, I was stuck in classes all day (seriously, my last class ended at 9:00PM!), so I didn’t really get to flaunt them anywhere. That’s okay, though; I felt fabulous, regardless!

Anyway, I’d like to wish all my followers (even those of you who follow me via Twitter and/or Facebook!) a very Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you for your constant support and enthusiasm for everything I do here. All of you are my sweethearts! ♥

Colors: Mandy (Julep), Glenn (Julep), Carrie (Julep), Blake (Julep), Brigitte (Julep)

I’ve received requests for a cupcake nail art tutorial since I first posted my cupcake mani in September (here), so I hope this tutorial is helpful. For such a cute end result, it’s actually very easy to recreate. Stay tuned!

Start by painting your nails with a base coat. Then, use a sweet pink like Mandy to paint about half your nail. Don’t stress about neatness! With a bright red like Glenn, use a thin paint brush to paint vertical lines over Mandy. Also add a horizontal line to the tip of your nail to create the bottom of your cupcake.

Using a dotting tool (you can also substitute a toothpick, ballpoint pen, or the back end of a make-up brush), create light pink frosting on your cupcake. Since I’m keeping with the Valentine’s Day theme, I’ve used Carrie for the frosting. Just like with real cupcakes, after the frosting comes the sprinkles! My sprinkles are in Brigitte, Mandy, and Blake, but you can use whatever colors you prefer. Place one drop of each sprinkle color on a napkin or a piece of scrap paper. Then, using a toothpick or needle, dot on your sprinkles. Take your time!

Next, I used Glenn and a tiny paint brush to add a tiny little heart on top of the cupcake. If you don’t have the patience for this, grab your dotting tool, and add a cherry on top instead. You can also add a rhinestone on top as well. The options are endless!

Once your cupcake is totally dry, seal in your design with a top coat. And that’s it! Now you can paint cupcakes on the rest of your fingers as well, or you can keep only one cupcake to accent an ordinary manicure, or you can be adventurous and add different designs to your other nails. Get creative and have fun! :)

This tutorial is also my very first guest blog post at the official Julep blog, so I’d love it if you stopped by there as well. Thanks!

Colors: Teddy Girl (Butter London), Carrie (Julep)

I decided to try and explore the more subtle side of stamping. I used Teddy Girl (Butter London) for the base color in this manicure and Carrie (Julep) as the color for the leopard spots (with plate M57). I know that up close, you can tell a pretty clear difference between the two pinks, but from far away, it’s hardly noticeable.

If you use two similar work safe colors, I think this would be a great way to sport nail art at work! How pretty would a nude on nude leopard print mani look with Minka (Zoya) and Glamour Purse (Essie)? And if you want to get really fancy, try a glossy black base color with matte black spots. The monochrome possibilities are endless!

Colors: Black Lingerie (Revlon), Platinum Glitter (Orly), Silver (Milani), White Canvas (Milani)

I thought about creating a New Years tutorial for yall, but my New Years mani is pretty easy to achieve with a minimal number of colors and some stripers or thin paint brushes. I used the silver Milani Jewel FX pieces as confetti. To control where each piece ends up, take the brush out of the Milani bottle, and use a toothpick to pluck a silver piece of glitter off the brush, and press it onto your nail. Rinse and repeat! Not nearly as time-consuming as that might seem. Trust me! :)

I had originally imagined this as a black and gold manicure, but I’m at my parents’ house for the holidays, and I only grabbed a few bottles of nail polish when I packed at my apartment…and for some reason, I didn’t grab anything gold! Anyway, my thumb says “2012,” my index finger shows a clock about to strike midnight, my middle finger says “NEW YEAR,” my ring finger is supposed to represent ribbons and confetti, and my pinky has a balloon on it.

Happy New Year to all my followers! Thanks for an amazing 2011. I wish you a prosperous new year filled only with good things. And, of course, lots of nail polish! ;)

Colors: A-Taupe The Space Needle (OPI), Get In The Expresso Lane (OPI), Superstar! (Pure Ice), Black Lingerie (Revlon), Chancer (Butter London)

Several of you have written in to ask for a basic reindeer nail art tutorial, so here it is! :)

Start by painting a half circle in light brown on your nail. Use a dotting tool or thin paintbrush to add ears in the same color to the top of this half circle. Your reindeer’s antlers will go in-between the ears, so make sure the ears are painted far apart.

While the light brown is drying, use a thin paintbrush to paint in some dark brown antlers in-between the reindeer’s ears. Start by painting two long lines sticking out of its head, and then add in shorter lines to complete the antlers. If your paintbrush is thin enough, feel free to add more details to the antlers.

By now, the light brown should be dry, so it’s time to paint on the reindeer’s eyes! Start by using a large dotting tool to place two white dots where the eyes should be. Once those are completely dry, use a smaller dotting tool to place two smaller black dots within the initial white dots. And when those are dry, use a toothpick to add in two white dots as highlights in the reindeer’s eyes. Make absolutely certain you wait for each layer of dots to dry. Your impatience might cause you to have to start all over again!

Lastly, use a glittery red nail polish to paint in Rudolph’s red nose. If you want to paint reindeer on all your nails, try painting only one reindeer’s nose red (Rudolph!), and the rest black. This reindeer design is also a great accent for a taupe or nude manicure for the holidays.

Once everything is dry, don’t forget to seal in your design with your favorite top coat. Enjoy! :)

Colors: Poinsettia (China Glaze), Icicle (China Glaze), Black Lingerie (Revlon)

This nail art design is pretty easy to recreate! All you need is three colors of nail polish (one for your “gift,” one for the bow, and one with which to outline the bow), a thin paintbrush or striper, and whatever you use as a dotting tool.

Start by painting half your nail with your gift color (in my case, that’s the red). Don’t stress about making straight lines! If you need more than one coat of your gift color, make sure you wait for each coat of nail polish to dry before applying more.

Next, using your bow color (silver) and a large dotting tool or the back end of a make-up brush, create a large dot in the middle of your nail. Once this has completely dried, use a smaller dotting tool or a toothpick to create the wings of your bow. It’s okay if this part doesn’t look super precise.

After everything from the previous step has dried, use a striper or thin paintbrush to outline the details in your bow. This is where neatness counts, so take your time. I start by outlining the wings of the bow, then the middle of the bow, and then I add the tiny details within the bow.

In case you’re curious, I used this paintbrush (I purchased it from Michaels) to paint on the outline/details of the bow. Perusing the paintbrushes at any craft store is a great way to find ideal paintbrushes for nail art. You definitely don’t need the exact same paintbrush I use.

Once everything has dried, don’t forget to seal in your design with your favorite top coat!

This design is so versatile. You can “tie up” all your nails, use the design to accent just one nail, or use different gift and bow colors to really make a statement! Best of all, you can bring it back for any gift-giving occasion. Enjoy! :)

Colors: Snow White (Ulta), Black Lingerie (Revlon), Hey Sailor (China Glaze), Sun-Sational (Ulta), Blagger (Butter London), Holly-Day (China Glaze)

Since most people put up their holiday lights this weekend, I thought I’d create a matching manicure for the occasion. :)

Start by using a make-up sponge to sponge on a white color on your nail. Begin at the tip of your nail and sponge up toward the cuticle. It’s your choice whether or not you go all the way up to the cuticle. I think it looks nice any way you go about it. The idea here is that the sponged on white looks a bit like snow gathered on a window or something.

Don’t worry if you make a mess all over your skin as you sponge on nail polish. Simply soak a q-tip in nail polish remover, and then clean up around your nail.

I didn’t do this next part, but I think it would look great if you added a layer of glitter over the white. I think China Glaze’s Fairy Dust or Snow Globe would add the perfect sparkle. Just make sure the white layer is totally dry before you layer on the glitter; otherwise, you’ll smear the white you just sponged on!

Next, use a black striper or a thin paint brush to create a wavy line. Then, use a thin paint brush, dotting tool, or toothpick to carefully add on your lights. I used red, yellow, blue, and green, but you should feel free to use whatever colors you like. :)

Make sure everything is totally dry, and then seal in the design with your favorite top coat!

Colors: Blagger (Butter London), Cheeky Chops (Butter London), Black Lingerie (Revlon)

My leopard print manicure from about a month ago received several notes/reblogs, so I thought I’d create a tutorial for it. Plus, I believe someone requested an animal print tutorial, so here you go! :)

Start by painting your nail with a base coat and then a base color. Once that has dried, use a contrasting color to paint on spots. You don’t need a dotting tool or anything to do this. Just use the nail polish brush to plop on messy spots as I have. Once that dries, use a dotting tool, toothpick, striper, or small paint brush to create parenthesis-like shapes around your spots. Add dots/blobs to fill in any empty spaces/gaps. Seal in your design with a top coat, and you’re all set!

Helpful tips: Pay attention to how far apart your leopard spots are. You don’t want your nail to look too busy, and you also don’t want your spots so close that all the details end up touching. Also, when choosing colors, make sure your leopard spot color contrasts with your base color and isn’t too similar to whatever color you’re using to create your parenthesis-like shapes and dots/blobs.

Colors: Blue Lace (Nicole), He’s My Boo (OPI), Mummy Knows Best (OPI), Black Lingerie (Revlon)

I had done a simpler penguin manicure earlier in the week, and upon seeing the penguin mani in my previous post, my sister told me she liked the simpler penguin better! So, I’ve whipped up this quick tutorial for yall. Hope it’s easy to follow! 

Start out by painting your nail with a base coat and then a base color (I think anything that contrasts with white will do, but obviously, I’ve used a blue color). There are a few ways you can do the second step. You can use a white striper to paint an “m” shape, and then color that in. You can also use a dotting tool to create this shape. What I did was turn the OPI pro-wide brush on its skinny side; then, I painted two lines down my nail. The “humps” formed themselves! Once this white part is dry, paint on your penguin’s facial details. Feel free to jazz him/her up. Add a tie or bow, a hat, a mustache, have the eyes pointing in different directions, etc. Don’t forget to seal in your design with your favorite top coat!

I may try to do more simple tutorials like this in the future. Let me know if yall would want that! :)