Office Dotticure Article.

This week on Beauty Blitz I talked about sneaking a little nail art into your work day! Check it out, here.

Dusty Negative Space Nails.

The negative space trend in nail art is one it took me a little while to warm up to. As someone who has nails that haven't been without nail polish for more than a few hours in years , I can't say they're perfectly white. 

But after seeing so many cute negative space designs, I realized there were plenty of options for me even if the tips of my nails are a little stained. 

For my first attempt I decided to do a negative space version of this manicure, I used OPI Steady as She Rose to create a half moon and french tip on each of my nails and left the center unpolished.

I ended up being very happy to have tried out this trend and definitely think you'll be seeing more negative space designs from me in the future!

Neon Stud Nails.

Of course, I love studded manicures and I'm especially enjoying this neon version for summer.

I used a bunch of different colors of both round and square studs from Born Pretty over a base of Sally Hansen Hard to Get.

I'll have to think of more ways to use these neon studs before summer ends because it's the perfect easy but bright manicure.

Summer Leopard Nails.

You really can't go wrong with a leopard + gradient combination, and when you throw in a few bright colors it's really the perfect design for summer. 

For this manicure I used  Sephora Formula X Dark Matter, China Glaze Spontaneous, OPI Ogre the Top Blue, and OPI Who The Shrek Are You.

Patriotic Skittle Nails.

I've tried a bunch of different designs for the 4th of July in the past, so deciding on something different to do this year took a little extra time. I ended up choosing a red, white, blue and silver holographic theme. Any excuse for a glitter and holographic-ness. 

The polishes I used were China Glaze First Mate, Mary Kay Radiant Red, Sally Hansen Hard to Get, and LA Colors Star Light.

The holographic flakes on the red nail were done with nail foils from Born Pretty and the hexagon glitter on my blue nail is my favorite Born Pretty glitter.

If you still need more ideas for your 4th of July mani, here are all my patriotic designs of the past! And hopefully I can manage to share another new red, white, and blue design before the week is over. 

Tiny Pineapple Nails.

It's been a while since my last post, but now that I have survived finals and moving into my first apartment, I want to get back to blogging regularly. 

My nails have certainly suffered during the rigors of moving and building Ikea furniture, but my cuticles are starting to recover, and hopefully my nails will only be painfully short for a little while longer. 

For today's manicure I decided to do something in accordance with one of this summer's biggest fashion trends, pineapples. 

The base color for the design is Wet n Wild French White Creme, and the pineapples were done with acrylic paints.

I think these are perfect for summer, and it's one design that I think looks just as good on short or long nails!

Black French Tip Rose Nails.

I usually do a lot of colorful manicures, which I think are fun with my mostly black wardrobe, but sometimes a darker design is fun too. For today's manicure I chose to do black roses with a dark grey base. 

The base color is CND Asphalt and I added CND Gold Shimmer for a little sparkle after doing the roses with acrylic paints.

Veronica Mars Nails.

After seven years of waiting, the Veronica Mars movie is coming out this week! Veronica Mars is one of my favorite shows ever, and I couldn't be more excited to see the movie. And all that excitement translates to needing matching nail art, I couldn't let the opportunity for a VM manicure pass me by.

I decided to do a design based on the logo for a business within the show, Mars Investigations. The logo was just screaming "turn me into nail art." I used OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Formula X Dark Matter, and white acrylic paint to create this design.

And here's the logo so you can compare!

Mean Candy Heart Nails.

I've been enjoying my break from nail art lately but I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass without doing this manicure! It's a design I've been wanting to do since last year after being inspired by mean spirited candy hears on tumblr.

The polishes I used for this design are Essie First Timer, Orly Pixy Stix, Orly Spark, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, OPI You're Such A Budapest, and Sephora Formula X Dark Matter.

I thought these turned out very cute and were something a little different from my other Valentine's Day designs!

Neon Distressed Nails.

For my last manicure of January I decided to re-use a technique that I tried for the first time in my January 1st post. 

This design actually incorporates a bunch of my favorite techniques and decorations; distressed streaks, water color, studs, glitter, etc. 

Here's the manicure before the streaks were added, I liked this tie-dye version too.

The polishes I used were Sally Hansen Hard To Get, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, China Glaze Shocking Pink, American Apparel Neon Yellow, Color Club Starry Temptress, and Sephora Formula X Dark Matter. And the studs are these ones from Born Pretty Store.

Hard to believe my month of nail art is over! But there will be more about that in a wrap-up post tomorrow!

Ikat Heart Nails.

Ikat hearts were one of multiple designs I posted in my very first blog post. I've always thought it was a design worthy of its very own post, so I decided to do a new version as one of my Valentine's day manicures this year.

I made a few changes for my updated design, this time I stuck with one heart per nail and went with a purple colors scheme. The polishes I used were OPI You're Such A Budapest, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama, OPI Pamplona Purple, and China Glaze VIII.

Purple Border Nails.

Today's manicure is my first attempt at doing a border design. Freehanding clean lines isn't my favorite so I was a little apprehensive to try this out but they turned out better than expected! The polishes I used to create the design are OPI...Eurso, Euro and American Apparel Dynasty. 

I don't know if I'll be freehanding borders all the time in the future, but I do think it's a great way to refresh a solid color manicure that has started to wear at the tips.

Acid Wash Denim Nails.

Acid wash nails are something I did when I first got into nail art but have never done for a blog manicure, so I thought I'd give it a shot again. 

The polishes I used are Sally Hansen Hard To Get (my favorite white at the moment) and China Glaze First Mate.

Tiny Donut Nails.

When I started today's manicure I planned to do one bigger donut on each nail but I ended up deciding on a bunch of tiny donuts because I thought it would be a tad bit cuter! 

The polishes I used for this manicure were OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons, China Glaze For Audrey, Orly Spark, Nails Inc. Sloane Avenue, and Nails Inc. Notting Hill Gate. I also used white acrylic paint.

Cool Cursive Nails.

I haven't had a ton of practice with doing lettering on nails but I decided to take a stab at a cursive design. I chose one of my favorite four letter words, cool, for my first attempt. 

The polishes I used were Chanel Paradoxal (a favorite I wish I had reason to use more) and OPI My Very First Knockwurst.

Soft Dot Nails.

Today's manicure came about because I've been using a lot of dark polishes lately and wanted to switch it up. 

I decided dots were a good way to go and chose to use a few polishes in softer shades: OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdamn, OPI My Very First Knockwurst, Maybelline Audacious Asphalt, and Sally Hansen Hard To Get. 

Lady Bug Nails.

It's been a while since I've thought of a new animal manicure to try, but for today's manicure I ended up deciding on lady bugs. 

Of course I wanted my lady bugs to be a little extra fun so I chose to start with a glittery base, two coats of Sephora Formula X Atom + Eve over Bellisimo Calgary Flame. The black and white I used were my current favorites, Sally Hansen Hard To Get and Sephora Formula X Dark Matter. 

Dotted Swirl Nails.

For today's manicure I decided to do swirls, something I haven't done in a long time but always love. To mix it up a little and keep these from just looking like mints I decided to add some dots. 

The green I used is an acrylic paint (acrylic paints are the best for this kind of design) and the polishes I used are Sally Hansen Hard to Get and Nails Inc. South Kensington.

Inverse Dotted Flower Nails.

Today's nails were inspired by this manicure. As far as floral designs go, dotted flowers are the way to go when you're looking for something easy that still makes an impact! 

I didn't want my flowers to seem too spring-y so I used China Glaze VIII and Orly Rage.

Glitter Polka Dot Nails.

A black and white glitter polish has been on my need-to-buy list for a long time now, and I've finally added one to my collection! 

I decided to use the glitter, Maybelline Polka Dots, for the first time over a gradient with OPI Don't Mess With OPI and Nails Inc. Baker Street. 

I can't wait to try the glitter over a few of my favorite neon polishes next time!