Metallic Geometric Nails.

For today's design I stamped and used a method which I explained in a tutorial here. The image I stamped with is from BM-203 and I stamped using three chrome colors, Color Club Foil me Once, Cold Metal and Perfect Mol-ten. The base color is CND Oil Slick. 

The more I look at this photo the more I realize the stamping shows up much better in person, but I'm sure this photo is enough to help you imagine how fun a metallic, chrome, geometric mani could be.

Patterned Heart Nails.

Somehow I landed on hearts for todays manicure, and this is what I came up with. 

The base color is China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle, and the hearts are done with acrylic paint. I added dots in OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, China Glaze Tree Hunger, and Revlon Blue Lagoon.

Born Pretty Golden Studs Review.

This Born Pretty review is one I'm really excited about. I've wanted to try these round studs for a while, and they didn't disappoint!

The studs were easy to apply, I used the same process I would use for rhinestones, pearls, etc. The studs are very flat which gives your nails a really cool embossed look.

I knew the first look I wanted to try with the studs would be a border design, and I loved how things turned out. I decided to try the studs on a darker polish, American Apparel Port, which I think really complimented them. I'm already brainstorming more ways I could utilize the studs for future manicures. 

You can get a bag of these studs from BPS for $5.68, and each bag holds enough studs for many uses. If you're interested in these studs or anything else from Born Pretty, you can use the coupon code BRJ61 to get 10% off!

Born Pretty Stamping Polishes Review.

I have another fun Born Pretty Store product to review for you today (and of course a manicure to go with!) This time I'm reviewing a set of stamping polishes. The set comes with five basic colors, white, red, yellow, blue, and black. 

I did a few test swatches and comparisons so you could get an idea for how each of the colors stamps. The yellow, red, and blue came out very opaque over white. The white and black stamped well, but I wasn't as impressed as I was with the primary color stamping polishes. I decided to compare the white and black to my Konad special white and black polishes. The Konad polishes were more opaque in both cases, however the difference between the blacks was not very significant.

The color I was eager to get on my nails first was the blue, so I based this manicure around that. I started with a base color of Milani White on the Spot, and then I stamped a chevron pattern on my nails using BM-204 with OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries. Then I used the blue stamping polish and BM-20 to add stars to my manicure.

I really liked this manicure (if you swapped the berry colored chevron out for red it could be a really fun updated American flag type manicure) and was very happy with the performance of the blue stamping polish.

I'll probably continue to use my Konad black and white stamping polishes, but I doubt I would be able to find a better yellow, red, or blue stamping polish, especially for a good price. They'll definitely become staples in my stamping nail art supplies.

If you want to order these polishes for yourself the set is $6.93, or you can purchase the polishes individually for $2.05 each. You can get 10% off any Born Pretty purchase using my coupon code, BRJ61.

Red Apple Nails.

When I was deciding on a manicure on today's post, I came to the conclusion that apples would make for the perfect back-to-school design.

As far as freehand designs go, apples are nice and simple. The base color I used is Color Club Antiquated, and the rest of the design is done with acrylic paints.

Born Pretty Velvet Scrunchie Review.

I've posted a bunch of reviews for various items from Born Pretty Store throughout this summer. Most of which have been about nail art products, however BPS has a lot more to offer. Among those offerings are hair decorations. When I saw they sold a velvet scrunchie, I knew I had to have it.

If you know me, I love the 90's and 90's style. Scrunchies definitely fall in that category. I've even taken to making scrunchies of my own lately, if you follow me on instagram (holymanicures) you've probably seen photos I've posted of my different attempts at making scrunchies. It's a really fun and easy project.

Back to the BPS scrunchie, I don't think I'd want to deal with sewing velvet or velour in order to make a similar one for myself, so this is perfect. It's a great size, smaller than most of my other scrunchies, which makes it ideal for adding to the end of a fishtail braid or putting around a small bun.

A scrunchie is an easy finishing touch to a simple hairstyle, and velvet one is even more ideal if you want to add a little 90's to any outfit.

The scrunchie is available for only $1.70, and you can still use my 10% off coupon on any BPS purchases.

Crayon Drip Nails.

I saw this dripping paint tutorial on youtube a few weeks ago and it immediately reminded me of the melted crayon art trend. So I decided to put the two together for my manicure. 

I used a bunch of polishes for this design: CND Flashpoint, CND Bicycle Yellow, CND Electric Orange, Sally Hansen Lickety Split Lime, OPI Ogre the Top Blue, China Glaze Spontaneous, Milani White on the Spot, and Wet n Wild Black Creme.

False Nail Announcement.

I've had a few requests to paint people sets of false nails with designs I've posted here. I'm going to be working on these this week and I thought I'd see if there were any interested readers. If there is anyone interested in buying a set of custom false nails (whether they feature a design I've blogged about or something different you've thought of) you can email me here to discuss!

Green Ombre Nails.

I ombre'd my hair at the beginning of summer, and it's been the perfect change for the season. Ombre hair might not be for everyone, but ombre nails are so simple and fun. 

The color I started with is LA Colors Atomic (on my middle ringer,) and then I just added either white or black to get the colors for the rest of my nails. To add a little something extra to the manicure I used the hexagon glitters I raved about, here.

Fall Aztec Nails.

I decided to do a little stamping today, and of course I had to combine that with a gradient. The stamping isn't my best, but I think the end results are still nice. The colors I chose ended up looking very fall appropriate, maybe I'll use this color combination again in a few months. 

The stamp I used is BM-204, and the polish I stamped with is Sally Hansen Gold Chrome. The colors for the gradient are Zoya Gemma, China Glaze Shower Together, and American Apparel Port.

Simple Daisy Nails.

Today's manicure is pretty simple, but I think floral nails are always cute, and I realized daisies were a type of flower I had yet to do!

The base color is China Glaze Watermelon Rind and the flowers are done with acrylic paint. I finished things off with steel balls for the centers, which I reviewed here. I've found them to be a very fun addition to my nail art supplies.

Ying Yang Nails.

I've been meaning to do ying yang nails for a while now, and I finally got around to it. I thought about going with the traditional black and white, but instead decided to make things  a bit more fun.

I used American Apparel Office and Mount Royal, and finished things off with green rhinestones from a wheel off of Amazon.

Dotted Curve Nails.

Dotted manicures are always some of my favorites, and I love this color combination.

The polishes I used are OPI Mermaid Tears, OPI Don't Mess With OPI, China Glaze First Mate, and Color Club Antiquated.

Neon Drip Nails.

I've done a few drip manicures in the past, but today's manicure has a few difference.

I decided to combine a few of my favorite neons with a very neutral grey-toned polish. The colors I used are OPI Skull & Glossbones, China Glaze In the Lime Light, China Glaze Purple Panic, and American Apparel Neon Yellow. 

Rose Ruffian Nails.

I'm back to short nails, and hopefully back to my regular posting since it's been a bit sporadic lately!

As for today's manicure, one of my most popular pre-blog designs was a manicure with roses for a french tip. I realized that I hadn't done a manicure with roses in quite a while and decided that similarly to the rose french tip, roses could make for a great twist on a ruffian design.

I used two of my favorite polishes in this manicure, OPI Done Out in Deco for the base color, and Color Club Starry Temptress to add a bit of glitter. The roses are done in acrylic pant. 

One Stroke Circle Nails.

I was inspired to try a one stroke manicure design by this tutorial. 

I really liked how the one stroke technique blended the colors I used (acrylic paints,) although things could have turned out better with a different base polish (Sally Hansen Silver Sweep.) The glitter is a loose glitter from Sally Beauty Supply.

Union Jack Nails.

London inspired manicures have been everywhere lately, so I decided to finally dedicate a bit of my time to making a whole bunch of straight lines and do a Union Jack design. 

The base color is China Glaze First Mate, and I used acrylic paint for the red and the white.

Metallic Floral Nails.

I needed a fun manicure to go with a dress I'm wearing to a wedding, and so I decided to stamp a floral design on my nails. The plate I used for this design is BM-225. The base color is Wet n Wild Black Creme and the color I stamped with is Sally Hansen Silver Sweep. 

Chrome Leopard Nails.

I loved doing freehand leopard print back in June so much that I thought it was time to give it another shot. This time I chose all chrome polishes for my manicure, which aren't the easiest to photograph but definitely put a fun spin on the design.

I used three colors from the Color Club Foiled collection for this manicure: Lumin-icent, Perfect Mol-ten, and Cold Metal.

Dotted Triangle Nails.

This design started out super simple, but when I wasn't crazy about it I kept adding more and more details until I was happy. I like it a bit more in person, but I think it turned out pretty cute. The base color is LA Colors Atomic and the rest of the colors I used are acrylic paints!