Diamond Head Nails

Oops, forgot to blog for a month! Not sure who really looks at this anyway, but I'm gonna try to be better about blogging. Check me out on Instagram (@jmgnails) to see all of my work :)

Anyway, I wanted to share these landscape nails I did the other day inspired by @amylovesnewwave on IG, such a super talented lady! Her inspiration came from Diamond Head in Hawaii :)

I started with a white base and did all of the rest of the details in acrylic paint. Like I've probably mentioned before, acrylic paint is 20000% easier to work with than nail polish. Its super cheap, and if you just buy some basic colors along with black and white you can pretty much create any color that you like. I guess you could say I'm pretty pleased with how these came out :)

Meow!

Hey guys! So I'm officially on summer break so that means more time for nails. Yay!!!

 

The other day I was at Forever 21 and I came across these adorable cat nail stickers. I just had to buy them! I rarely use nail stickers, but I have in the past. These went on nicely and they filed off really cleanly as well, where some of the ones I've used in the past are super hard to file off the edges. They also lasted me an entire day at work with no peeling!

 

 

On my other hands I used the oh-so-appropriately named Pussy Galore from the OPI Bond Girls collection :)

Pastel Sponging

Hey guys!

For today's manicure I wanted to do something bright, so pastel sponging was what I decided on. Its a plus because of how easy and quick it is too ;) I definitely wasn't the first to come up with this technique or try these, but they are super easy to do yourself, even if you wouldn't consider yourself good at nail art!

To begin, I painted the nails I was going to sponge over with a white base. When the base is dry, I then took a moistened makeup sponge and randomly dabbed light blue, yellow, and pink polishes on, and just lightly sponged them over the white. I cleaned up my cuticles with a small nail art brush, applied top coat, and done! My pinky and index finger are painted with Zoya Magical Pixie Dust in Cosmo, and I added two Swarovski crystals over the pastels because I just can't help myself ;)

 

Glam Glaze

Hey guys! So continuing with my swatching lately.. I have a Glam Glaze thermal swatch today!

 

Glam Glaze is an indie polish brand and Jessica specializes in thermals and custom polishes :) The one I swatched today is called 'Warm Me Up' and its a cold temperature thermal that changes from a medium pink (with almost a hint of coral) to a dark purple when cold. All pictures shown are three thin coats with topcoat :)

 Shown at room temperature

 

Macro shot of room temperature color

 

Transition shot

After cold water...

...and lastly, macro after cold water!

 

If you are interested in thermals or are just looking for a new awesome indie maker, I highly suggest you check Glam Glaze out! Jessica is super nice and I'd much rather support an indie maker than some big brand CEO.

 

For swatches and polish info, you can check her out on Instagram (@glamglaze) or check her store out, www.glamglaze.storenvy.com!

 

Grumpy Cat Nails

Hey guys!

 

So its finals season...and grumpy can best describe how I feel about all this studying! So I just had to take a painting break :) The grumpy cat was inspired by @madamluck who did some Grumpy Cat nail art a couple weeks ago, except for the rest of my fingers I used Zoya 'Godiva' which was my first Zoya and my first textured polish ever. It has a beige base with silver glitter and in person it just looks like sparkly sand on your fingers. The Grumpy Cat was painted with acrylic paint, as most of my more detailed designs are :)

 

 

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Happy finals season!

Purple Textured Swatches

Hey guys!

 

So I have a huge collection of nail polish, but tons of it is textured polish (which is my absolute favorite) and there are so many different colors! So I'm gonna start doing a comparison between my textured polishes, and I'll start with the purples!

 

On my index finger is OPI 'Can't Let Go' which is a dark royal purple with larger chunks of glitter. The textured finish on this is a little rougher than the others I swatched. This bothers some people, but I love the textured feel. I only used two thin coats of polish here, but if you wanted it to be more textured, you could do three.

 

On my middle finger is Nicole by OPI 'I Lilac Gumdrops' which is a light lavender color with tiny silver glitter that adds a finer texture when dried. Three thin coats is all you need!

 

On my ring finger is one of my favorites, which is Zoya 'Stevie' from the Pixie Dust collection. This is just a bit lighter than 'I Lilac Gumdrops' and is a bit more textured as well. It also contains silver glitter that gives it a sparkly finish in sunlight. I used three thin coats to fully cover my nail.

 

Last but not least, on my pinky is Zoya 'Carter'. This definitely is one of my favorite Pixie Dust shades and I always get compliments when I wear it. The shade is a really bold royal purple but what really makes it stand out is the magenta glitter that makes it sparkle in any light. I only used two thin coats in the photo below.

 

 

Smiley Face Nails

Hey guys!

I saw +madamluck do a doodle on her thumb the other day just messing around with brush sizes, and I thought that it would make the perfect accent nail for this mani. So here is the usually elusive thumb shot :)

 

 

 

I started with a white base, and did all the black details with acrylic paint. I used Zoya 'Solange' for the yellow in the smileys, Zoya 'Miranda' for the tongue, and Zoya 'Chyna' for the heart eyes :)

 

I hope everyone has a very happy day today! :)

 

Watermarble Chesire Cat Nails

Hey guys! So recently I was messing around with watermarbling, and I came up with this happy mistake! When I was working with these colors they reminded me of Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, so I saved one nail to paint his grin on (I used acrylic paint). The colors I used to marble were Fresh Paint 'Guava' and Wet n' Wild Megalast 'On a Trip'.

 

 

 

 

When watermarbling, I use room temperature filtered water in a Dixie cup. Some people use tap water, so its really trial and error to see what works best for you. The same goes with knowing which brands spread easier in the water, you kind of just have to try and see. Generally, thinner polishes work better. And I always paint my nails with a white base to make the colors stand out even more. I ended up with a few bubbles but that's okay because they still look cool and 3 AM is way too late to start all over ;)

 

 

Black Lace Nails

Hey guys! So lately I've been seeing a lot of amazing nail art around and I just have to try it for myself! This mani is a recreation of @badgirlnails lace nails and I really love how they came out!

 

The colors I used were OPI 'Bubble Bath' for the sheer pink, and Wet N' Wild 'Black Crème' for the black. To get the sheer black look on my accent nails, I dropped two drops of the Black Crème into a cup of room temperature, filtered water like you would for a watermarble, then dipped my nails to create the sheer black. I did some of the details with black acrylic paint, simply because its just easier to work with than polish. 

Gradient Tape Mani

Hey guys! So I saw this design on IG by @just1nail and I just had to try! I'm pretty sure she was inspired by someone else too, so I'm not entirely sure who to credit for this design. But really, its pretty basic so I don't even know that I need to credit anyone.

 

Anyway, all I did for this mani was paint a white base, then waited for it to dry before placing four pieces of striping tape on each finger. Next I built my gradient on a makeup sponge using two unnamed polishes I got for Christmas (a mint and a teal color), then sponged that over the tape and removed after I was happy with the coverage. This design was simple and I was able to squeeze it in that hour break between school and work (winning!)

Prank vs. Prank Nails!

Hey guys! So today is day 14 of nail art April and the theme is peeps. Although Peeps are one of my favorite candy, I really just didn't feel like painting them on my nails :P So what else comes to mind when I think of peeps? pvpeeps, of course! For those of you who don't know, Prank vs. Prank is a YouTube channel with Jesse Wellens and his girlfriend Jeana where they've been pranking each other since 2007. They also vlog their lives everyday on their other channel, BF vs. GF. My routine when I do my nails consists of listening to music and watching their vlog. So why not bring them to my nails?

I started with a base of Black Crème by Wet'n'Wild and hand painted the lettering with acrylic paint and a small nail art brush. For the triangles, I just taped my nails to make a triangle, painted a white base, let it dry, then taped just below the white to leave an edge, and painted 2 coats of Zoya Chyna.

 

 

 

Whaddddddup, Dope Fresh Nation?!

Mint Chevron Nails

Hey guys! :)

 

So I've been doing nail art for almost two years now, and this is the first time I've ever tried the ever popular chevron nails. These were for day 11 of nail art April, chevrons. They were super easy and fun to do!

 

 

 

To make the chevrons, I bought some office labels, and used some zig-zag craft scissors I already had (you can find them at your local craft store) and just cut out stickers that way. The labels work a lot better than scotch tape, because scotch tape tends to break in the middle when I try to remove it after I polish over it. Also, don't let your polish dry before you remove the stickers, because you will have peeling.

 

 

The colors I used are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet, OPI Alpine Snow, and OPI It's Frosty Outside.

Atlanta Braves Nails

Hey guys! So day 8 of nail art April this year is Favorite. Favorite what may you ask? Well I decided to do my favorite baseball team, obviously the Atlanta Braves!

 

The colors I used were Zoya Sunshine for the base, Zoya Chyna for the red lettering, OPI Alpine Snow for the white outline, and Zoya Solange for the detailing on the tomahawk.

 

Happy baseball season!

Landscape Nails

Hey guys! So day 5 of nail art April was weather, but I didn't wanna do a cloud mani, or a lightning mani, orrrrr a raindrop mani, so I figured I'd do a nice sunset :) Not that loose of an interpretation right?

I got my inspiration from a picture taken by my boyfriend's sister from Lake Chatuge in North Carolina. Look how beautiful!

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. I started with a white base then I used acrylic paints for the gradient and the detailing. I started from the farthest object, being the mountains and trees, and worked towards the end of my nail from there.

Autism Acceptance Nails

Hey guys! So I'm a day late for National Autism Awareness day, but the whole month of April is dedicated to this cause so instead of awareness, I decided to focus on acceptance. Its easy to be aware of something, but acceptance is a choice. Why should you care about autism acceptance? About 1 in 88 people are autistic- you probably know one yourself.

 

I got these next bits of information from www.firstsigns.org and http://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/ where you can find lots of more information <3

Autism is an umbrella term for a wide spectrum of disorders, sometimes referred to as “Pervasive Developmental Disorders” or “Autism Spectrum Disorders.” The term “spectrum” is crucial to understanding autism, because of the wide range of intensity, symptoms and behaviors, types of disorders, and as always, considerable individual variation. Children with autism spectrum disorders may be non-verbal and asocial, as in the case of many with “classic” autism, or Autistic Disorder. On the other end of the spectrum are children with a high-functioning form of autism characterized by idiosyncratic social skills and play, such as Asperger Syndrome. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), these diagnostic categories are outlined under the heading of “Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs).” In the DSM-IV, these disorders are defined by deficits in three core areas: social skills, communication, and behaviors and/or interests. Types of autism spectrum disorders, or PDDs, include:

• Autistic Disorder
• Asperger Syndrome
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
• Rett Syndrome
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

So here are my autism acceptance nails for day 1 #nailartapr- autism <3 Its great seeing how many people have gone blue for autism awareness month! I used OPI Liquid Sand Kiss Me at Midnight for the textured polish, Zoya PixieDusts for the umbrella spectrum, and Revlon Dreamer for the blue base under the light bulb design that was handpainted.

 

 

<3 <3 <3

blink-182 nails

Hey guys!

So today is the last challenge for nail art march and I can't believe I've already finished two nail art challenges! Today's theme was "drips" aaaaand sometimes I interpret these themes very loosely :P I decided to do a mani with something I love very much in it- blink!

 

To get this look, I started by painting my nails with a white base, then I used straws to pick up the nail polish and blow spatters onto my fingers. (Caution: USE TAPE! The nail polish will splatter everywhere, but if your fingers are taped around them then clean up is super easy) For the accent nail, I took both the pink and turquoise colors and wiped the excess polish off until there was barely any on the brush and then ran that over my finger to create a streaky-ish look. I then painted the smiley with acrylic paint, which is a lot easier to work with than actual polish.

 

I've seen blink nails like these before so I'm definitely not the first to do them, but I love how they turned out! At the risk of sounding corny, Mark, Tom and Travis helped me through some trying times with their music. I can't say there is a blink song I don't like...

 

And I hope you guys like these nails! <3

Peach and Gold Tape Mani

Hey guys! Can't sleep, so I paint my nails... makes sense...

 

Anyways, here's a really simple tape mani I did tonight. All you need is scotch tape and patience!

I started with a 2 base coats of Maybelline's Color Show in 'Pretty Peach', after it was COMPLETELY dry (that's where that patience comes in) you can start taping up your nails. (When you apply the tape, make sure there aren't air bubbles as the polish will seep into those and you won't have those clean lines. Also, I do one finger at a time with tape as you tend to start sticking to everything with a hand full of it) After your nail is all taped up, you can apply the polish you want over it, in this mani I used probably my favorite polish ever EVER Zoya Tomoko. All the sparkles. You wanna remove your tape as soon as you have the coverage you want over the base coat, because when the polish dries completely it will peel and become a big ol' mess and you again will have super sloppy lines. No one likes sloppy lines.

 

So that was a lot of description, but this mani is super easy. And sparkly. And sparkly is always good in my book.

Watercolor Nails

Hey guys! Today I'm actually a day early on the nail art march challenge so I figured I'd go ahead and post these. The theme was watercolor and these were so fun to do! I love nail art that doesn't have to be perfect and this technique definitely doesn't require a steady hand or any special tools.

I saw this technique a while back on YouTube but I can't for the life of me remember where. First, I started by painting my nails with a base of OPI Alpine Snow (geez, I think I've used this in every mani in the blog so far!) After dry, I took 3 different acrylic paints and diluted each one down with water.

 

After I mixed water with the paints, I started by taking a small nail art brush and dipping in one color at a time, and spreading it over my nail. Since its acrylic paint and not nail polish it will dry a lot faster, so after the first layer is dry you can go ahead with your second and third colors spreading them around until you get a color mix that you like.

 

When the colors dry, they'll have a matte finish. If you like this, you can stop there! It really is pretty matte-ified, but I added a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the top for a little extra sparkle. I seriously can't resist glitter ever, you guys.

 

I had a lot of fun creating these watercolor nails and I can't wait to try different colors!

 

 

 

Famous Stars and Straps Nails

 

Hey guys! So today's nail art comes from another #nailartmar challenge, day 25 which was match your outfit of the day!

 

I know I'm not the only girl who loves Famous Stars and Straps! I've had this shirt forever and I do love me some Travis Barker so I thought it would be a neat shirt to try and recreate on my nails :P

 

The black textured polish is "Dahlia" from the Zoya PixieDust collection, and the accent finger with the Famous symbol was painted with acrylic paints. I then waited for the acrylic paint to dry then added a top coat over it before applying the Pixie Dust around the design, that way I got a glossy finish on the symbol.

 

 

Spring-y Nails

 

 

Spring is finally in the air! Kind of... either way, its definitely inspiring my nail art! These first nails were for day 20 of the #nailartmar challenge by @californails and they were super easy!

 

First I started with a base coat (I prefer Seche Vite, but any will work just fine). Next I added two medium layers of OPI's Tiffany Case, and then I used a dotting tool to make the yellow centers of the daisy using Zoya's Solange from their Pixie Dust collection. Once I was happy with my circles, I took a small nail art brush and starting making varying strokes while staying relatively close together to create the look of overlapping petals using OPI Alpine Snow. If you don't like the textured feel, you could add a layer of top coat to finish it off, but I personally love the textured feel!

 

 

 

 

The next somewhat "springy" nails I have tonight were for day 22 of nail art March, and I just did a simple gradient which turned out quite nicely color wise, in my opinion. To create this look I used a makeup sponge to blend the colors and sponge on over a base of OPI Alpine Snow. The colors I used were:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- Lacey Lilac

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails- Hard-core Party

Maybelline Color Show- Pretty in Peach

Sinful Colors- Unicorn

 

I wasn't sure these colors would go together at first but after I finished, I was impressed with how nice they complemented each other. I was trying to recreate a sunrise I saw on my way to school the other week (oh the joys of 8 A.M. classes!)

 

 

HI guys!

 

Hey guys! My name is Julia and I'm 20 years old. I live in Lawrenceville, GA and I'm a marketing major. I love to paint my nails, and I love to share my nail art! I started nail art around summer of 2012, and since then its become not only my hobby but my stress reliever. Everyday I learn something new from fabulous bloggers and nail art enthusiasts, and I can only hope to be an inspiration to someone as the nail art community has been so inspirational to me.

 

SO yeah, that's me! Follow me on my nail art journey here or on Instagram, @jmgnails!