Lilly Pulitzer-inspired Mani for August’s NCC

It’s August already! It seems like July went by so quickly. August ushers in another theme from the Nail Challenge Collaborative – Tea Party! I can’t wait to see what everyone does for this challenge.

One of the first things that came to mind when thinking about tea parties was a fancy lady in pearls and a bright, colorful Lilly Pulitzer dress. Why? I think my time as a sorority girl in Virginia influenced that – every spring/summer meant that all the Lilly dresses came out to play.

So here’s my first manicure for the Tea Party theme inspired by a print by Lilly Pulitzer:

 

Lilly, to me, is always bright and colorful. My manicure was inspired by the pattern, Reef Madness. Here’s a pic of it I found on a tumblr account, Pulitzer Prints:

 

And since I equate Lilly with monograms, I added one of those on my ring finger as an accent. Here’s a pic where you can see the monogram a little better:

My freehand is still just ok, but I really like my middle finger (hehe naturally). I think it’s the only one that even slightly resembles a coral reef pattern. And my monogram definitely could use some work!

 

Colors used:

• Base color: Julep Lani, a beautiful bright teal.
• Coral pattern: China Glaze Purple Panic, a great purple-pink shimmery polish.
• Monogram: Sephora by OPI A Ha! Moment

What do you guys think? Do you have any tips for doing freehand? Check out the other NCC ladies’ manis here:

 

Simple Halloween manicure

I’ve seen a lot of amazing Halloween-themed manicures out there and I obviously wanted to join in. I had lots of ideas, most of which were super busy and involved a million colors/ sparkles/ stamps/ etc. Not much actually worked out in reality… wah waaah (sad trombone sound).

I did, however, do a really fun simple manicure with water marbling and dotting.

 

80s night manicure

Like a good child of the 80s, I relish the opportunity to celebrate my favorite tacky decade. A local bar had three 80s cover bands playing, so of course I had to go in head-to-toe 80s regalia. Perfect time to try out my new neon glitter polish I purchased from Etsy!

The polishes I used: Sephora by OPI A-Ha! Moment, then 2 coats of Lush Lacquer’s Glowsticks (fantastic glitter polish purchased on Etsy), then Orly Glowstick (neon yellow).

I love Lush Lacquer! I bought 3 of their glitter polishes in miniature size and can’t wait to try the rest out.

Nail Stamping

I loved all the patterns of Sally Hansen’s nail polish strips, but each time I wanted a patterned manicure it was at least $10. Pinterest introduced me to the wonders of nail stamping, so I recently decided to try my hand at it (pun semi-intended). I bought a set of Gals nail plates (the “princes” set) to test out and played around. It’s surprisingly easy to learn and looks fabulous. My first few attempts weren’t the best, but I figured out a few things to make it easier. 

Obviously not perfect (I tried to fill in some empty space on my ring and middle finger, which ended up darker than I wanted… but oh well), but I enjoy it.

The above nail colors: base is Essie Tart Deco (pretty tangerine color) and stamping color is Zoya Valerie (on its own, a dark sparkly purple). I used Seche Vite top coat, which I recommend above all else. I tried to do stamping with a different top coat and despite letting the stamp dry for hours, the top coat I used smeared the beautiful pattern.

See? Gorgeous pattern, but it was so nice and crisp before the top coat and ended up blurry afterwards. The above manicure has the following colors: base is Sephora by OPI A-Ha! Moment and stamp is Sinful Colors Let’s Talk.

Point being… get Seche Vite top coat and have fun stamping! It’s a blast!