Quick Manicure with Accent Nail

Hello everyone! I'm Angela from Icing On The Face where I blog about all things beauty. I share product reviews and comparisons, favorites, tips and tricks, nails, everything. I know that Nik and Desirae have had quite a busy summer and because of that I want to share my favorite quick but fun nail look. This is something I love to do when I want an eye-catching and cute nail look but don't want to spend a lot of time on nail art or applying glitter meticulously. No sitting down and taking 20 minutes to think up a design and then an hour to execute (if you've ever done nail art then you already know what a time-eater it truly is).
Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips are really quick and easy to apply and have great lasting abilities. Okay, call me a cheater when it comes to nail art; I'll take it. They're fool-proof and there's no drying time! I don't always have the time or patience, does that mean I have to forfeit the cute designs? Just let me cheat, alright?

Whenever I use any nail polish strips I always save what is left for a rainy day (they all come with extras). Just make sure you put them in a ziplock bag so that they will not dry out. When I'm in a hurry, I just add my leftover nail strips to one nail and paint the rest a pretty color. For this look, I chose Essie's First Timer which I am loving for summer and as a contrast to the black and white of the Tri-bal It On nail strip by Sally Hansen. If you want more tips for making the leftovers really work, check out my post Making Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips Go Farther.

Please share if you recreate this! Hope you enjoyed!

Hot Pink and Purple Gradient

I did this manicure with polishes I purchased.

I guess I could have done this as a picture tutorial... But I didn't. And I did it yesterday so the photos show tiny chipping on a few nails.

Goodness, was this more of a process than it needed to be. Started with spilling acetone in my coffee. And then using the wrong color for the base and needing to remove it and then smudging it immediately and needing to reapply the base. And then dripping polish on my shirt.

What on earth?! So... It took hours from start to finish. But, I persevered.

I used:
Finger Paints (a hot pink color I forget the name of but will hopefully remember to look)
OPI - Casino Royale
OPI - Road House Blues
Sinful Colors - Pinky Glitter

The correct method I used (correct for my standards), was:
Two coats hot pink FP. Let it dry.
Soak a makeup wedge in water and squeeze it out. Helps keep it from absorbing all the polish.
Brush three lines of polish onto a plastic cottage cheese lid (it's what I had on the counter anyway)- hot pink, dark pink, dark purple. Sponge it up with the wedge, and press firmly against the nail a few times. Repeat as necessary.

When that was dry, I used the smallest amount of the glitter I could get on the ring nail, because its a hot pink and using a lot was screwing with the visual of the gradient and I only wanted slight sparkle.

Two coats if Sally Hansen Insta-Dry top coat sealed it off.

The last photo was post sponging before any clean-up. Haha.

Black starburst

I'm in a bummed mood, so I'm not dedicating a lot of effort to this entry.

Zoya storm is the base on accent nails.

Sally Hansen.. A solid black polish is atop.

I used a single star from a Wet N Wild Fergie (Hollywood Walk of Fame I believe).

It took two coats of top coat to get mostly smooth because my black is old and really thick.

I then used Hard Candy's discontinued matte top coat.

I'm not feeling the dedication to watermarking the photos either, but I love how the manicure turned out!

Peace.

Sweet Nothing in the Spotlight

Walgreens had a four for five dollar sale and I had five dollars.

Two of the polishes I purchase were "Sweet Nothing" and "In the Spotlight."

Both went on like a dream. I don't know if Sinful Colors has reformulated since I last purchased but these were both thicker than any other I have (and I have quite a few), and seemed creamier and not as thin and runny.

My prize polishes!

Thanks, An Accent Nail, for this prize!

http://anaccentnail.blogspot.com

I entered a massive giveaway hosted by two other nail bloggers, Lace and Lacquers (www.laceandlacquers) and Naked Without Polish (http://nakedwithoutpolish.blogspot.com) back in January. I was beyond surprised to receive an email saying I was one of 40 winners!

My prize arrived today. OPI - DS Mystery and Finger Paints - Flecked.

Had to swatch them together really quick. Of course, I did an accent nail with the Finger Paints. Seemed appropriate given the blogger who donated my prize!

The OPI is a.... Black... Or crazy dark purple.... Polish with gold shimmer. It's pretty! Looks black or brown or something in the bottle but the first coat of polish seemed purple or so... Regardless. It's pretty!

I used two coats of the Finger Paints on my accent nail. The flecks are green and blue in the light. Also pretty.

Not sure about the combo together but I had five minutes to try and run out in the sun before Spencer finished his lunch!

Valentine's Nails

Another quick nap time manicure, in the Valentine's Day spirit.

 

OPI's "Meet & Jingle" is my go-to red, especially for the holidays. It's the perfect shade with the perfect amount of shimmer. I went with an accent nail today of Essie's "Leading Lady". I love the red glitter. So festive! Sort of reminds me of Dorothy's ruby slippers, too. :)

 

Here it is pre-cleanup. Because I'm too lazy to worry about that right now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pink and Red and Lacy Stamping! What?!

I'm hiding from my boys as I sit on the steps listening to them play happily. I bet it will last threes muted, so I will make this quick.

I'm not a girls girl. I rarely paint my nails pink. Dark red, not bright red, if red at all. I guess an occasional magenta is used or some bold other red pink hue... But definitely not pale pink. Not often.

Introducing my pink and bright red manicure, with a floral/leafy/swirly stamp on two accent nails in reverse fashion. I splurged on myself and used a bit of my new business profit to buy a set of MASH stamping plates. LOVE them! I couldn't decide what to stamp, so I made Desi do the final selection!

Zoya Gewenth is a creamy bright red that's a little on the cooler side of the color spectrum. Covered my blue stained thumb in two coats. Portia is the light pink. Also creamy. Took two full coats to cover.

Portia is my kind of pale pink, I decided, and I would have no issue wearing it plain. It's pale, but a bit dusty, a bit mauve. It's not Pepto pink. Not bubble gum. Not baby. I just can't do those colors. Nope. I've tried. They last a few hours and then they have to leave.

Portia didn't stamp very opaque over Gweneth, but I kind of love it that way. Had I not been nervous that I would wreck my other nails continuing to stamp (because the first four went on quick and wonderfully I was certain the odds were against me), I might have done them all.

But, here you have it, my girly stamping adventure that I ended up living. Might top coat it and preserve it a few days.

Scratch that. I won't. I want to try more stamps soon. Haha.

And... Cue Ollie fussing.